Gateways and Relays
by reptilia28
Summary: An anomalous mass relay jump sends the crew of the Normandy into the universe of the Tau'ri. Now Shepard and her crew must gain the trust of the SGC while fighting off the Goa'uld and finding a way to return home. Post-ME2. AU. DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

I'm not sure why I'm writing this. I guess I just thought that we needed more Mass Effect crossovers.

I'll be using a Soldier Female Earthborn/War Hero Paragrade Shepard. I'm writing this from memory, so I apologize for any deviances from the game or show.

I own neither Mass Effect nor the Stargate series.

----

Commander Jane Shepard sighed and silently wondered how the hell she got into the situation that she was in now. She was standing just a few dozen meters away from the enigmatic Collectors' front doorstep, and was surrounded by the most surreal and varied crew imaginable, from her old friends Tali'Zorah vas Normandy and Garrus Vakarian, to the likes of Grunt, the tank-bred Krogan and the psychotic Jack, and even Legion, a platform of the geth. _Oh yeah, I died_, she thought sardonically. Removing herself from her private thoughts, she looked up at the hologram of the Collector stronghold projected before her. The current plan was for two teams to strike from different sides while a single infiltrator would climb through a thermal vent and open up the path to strike at the heart of the station. Currently, her three options were Tali, Legion or the master thief Kasumi Goto.

"Legion," she finally decided, "I want you to infiltrate the thermal vent." The geth construct adjusted something on its rifle before nodded in acceptance.

"Acknowledged," it said in its typical synthetic monotone. Tali shifted on her feet slightly in what Shepard assumed was jealousy, but she was in no mood to play mediator between the two again, so she turned to Garrus.

"Garrus, I want you to lead the fire team," she said to the scarred Turian.

"You got it, Shepard," Garrus said. Miranda Lawson opened her mouth as if to object, but one glare from the commander was enough to silence any protest. With their respective members sorted out, the two teams poured out of the _Normandy_ and into the Collector base while Legion traveled to its destination.

------

"Keelah…" Tali gasped as she looked at the sight before her. Millions of Collector stasis pods lined the walls of the massive room before them. Stepping up to one of the pods, Shepard wiped her hand across the glass surface, revealing the face of a young brunette woman.

"This looks like one of the colonists from Horizon," she said, mostly to herself. A few pods down, Jacob Taylor announced that he had found the missing _Normandy_ crew. A moment later, the woman before Shepard woke with a start, looking around in confusion. Suddenly, the confused look turned to one of horror as her flesh started to melt away. Her muffled screams barely penetrated the pod as she pounded against the glass, leaving bloody streaks on the surface, until her cries went silent and she disappeared into a cloud of red goo, quickly siphoned out of the pod and towards parts unknown. "Christ!" she swore. "Get the crew out of these pods, double time!" she shouted as she started pounding on the nearest occupied pod. With all of them hammering away at the pods, the abducted crew was saved, although some of them sported painful-looking chemical burns over their bodies.

"Can any of you walk?" Shepard asked. When they murmured a general affirmative, Shepard turned Mordin Solus. "Mordin, I need you to escort the crew back to the _Normandy_ and give them medical attention," she ordered.

"Understood Shepard," the fast-talking salarian said. "I'll guard them with my life. Come along," he said, turning to the crew, "must return to _Normandy_ before Collectors find us." With the more able-bodied crew helping the injured to their feet, Mordin led the crew away from harm, and Shepard led the rest of her team deeper into the bowels of the enemy stronghold.

------

"Go!" Shepard shouted as she and her team ran towards the closing doors, the Collectors' gunfire barely managing to be deflected by Samara's shield. "You two go on ahead, I'll cover Samara!" Acknowledging the order, Thane Krios and Zaeed Massani fled forward and into cover. Shepard holstered her Revenant machine gun and drew her Carnifex hand cannon and began taking potshots at the Collectors. Just as they reached the door, Samara gave on final biotic push, sending the Collectors and the swarm of bugs surrounding them flying away. As the doors closed, Samara was leaning forward, exhausted. Shepard checked the ammo counter on her HUD: One shot left on her pistol. "Samara, are you okay?" she asked.

"I am fine, Shepard," the asari justicar said, panting. "My powers are exhausted, but they should be recharged soon."

"That's good," Shepard said. In one swift move, she planted the pistol against the back of Samara's head and pulled the trigger, and the elderly asari's body fell forward, now missing half its head. Wiping off the blood and brain matter that had splattered onto her and ejecting the now spent heat sink, Shepard walked forward and around a corner, where Zaeed and Thane awaited her.

"Where is Samara, Shepard?" Thane asked in his soft, scratchy voice.

"The Collectors clipped her just before the doors closed," Shepard lied smoothly, marching forward, "she didn't make it." She continued to walk forward until she noticed that her teammates were not following her. "What's the holdup? The fire team's waiting!" she snapped before continuing to march forward. As the two men caught up to her, they shared a knowing glance. They both knew that Shepard was lying. Justicars were infamous for having an extremely strict moral code that left no room for shades of gray, something that clashed with Shepard's fast-and-loose style. In one of their many arguments over the matter, Samara had all but threatened to kill Shepard once they were through dealing with the Collectors, and seeing as how a decent-sized portion of the crew were also less than ideal to the justicar's black-and-white viewpoint, neither man could blame their commander for taking her out before she could be a problem.

------

_Almost finished_, Shepard thought as she opened a power conduit hidden underneath the floor. After fighting her way through countless Collectors, she had finally found out what the mysterious aliens had been collecting humans for: A giant, half-built human Reaper. While simultaneously fending off waves of Collectors, she along with Garrus and Miranda had managed to sever the supports that held up abominable construct, sending it toppling down into the seemingly bottomless chasm below. With that mess taken care of, Shepard was preparing to cause the Collector ship to have a catastrophic meltdown when Miranda said that they were receiving a call from the Illusive Man.

"Shepard, wait!" he said. Suppressing a growl of frustration, Shepard stood up from her work and crossed her arms impatiently. After listening to the old man ramble on about saving the Collector base for the sake of humanity, she had finally had enough. She had put up with the Illusive Man's bullshit for nearly six months, and she had even agreed with some of his ideals, if not his methods, but after seeing firsthand what this base could do, preserving it was too much to ask.

"I won't let fear compromise who I am," Shepard said as she turned to resume her work. However, she immediately spun back around at the Illusive Man's next words.

"Miranda, stop her!" the old man shouted. Garrus and Shepard immediately trained their weapons on the Cerberus operative, ready to strike her down should she make a move. However, the brunette woman merely cocked her eyebrow.

"Or what?" she asked defiantly, "you're going to replace me too?"

"Damn it, Miranda, I gave you an order!" the Illusive Man yelled, losing his temper.

"I noticed, consider this my resignation," Miranda said. She cut off any retort the Illusive Man may have had by shutting off her omni-tool. Looking at Shepard coolly, she asked, "Do you trust me now, Shepard?" After a moment, Shepard lowered her weapon, feeling a small sensation of pride that she could inspire loyalty in as fervent a supporter of Cerberus as her.

"Yeah, we're good," Shepard said, bending down to finish her work. After she had rigged the base to explode, she stood up and dusted her armor down. "Alright, we've got about fifteen minutes to—" she began, but was interrupted by a thunderous boom that shook the ground.

"That didn't sound good," Garrus observed.

**BOOM!**

**BOOM!**

**BOOM!**

Finally, the source of the noise was revealed, when the very much alive and functioning human Reaper pulled itself upwards, its orange eyes glowing menacingly. As they gazed upon the swaying skeletal construct, two words drifted through everyone's minds: _Oh shit_.

------

As she pushed debris out of her way, Shepard was wondering to herself why she was doing this. After cutting off the Illusive Man, Shepard and her team were forced to fight off the human Reaper. Through luck, perseverance and the liberal application of heavy weapons, they had managed to destroy the Reaper for good and just barely managed to escape the base's annihilation with Samara as the only casualty. An hour later, Joker had reported an incoming transmission from the Illusive Man, flagged as urgent. She knew that she should have just ignored it, but something compelled her to humor Cerberus' enigmatic leader. So, stepping into the conference room that miraculously still worked, despite the extensive damage to it, she stepped onto the holographic projector and found herself staring at the Illusive Man.

"You wanted to talk?" Shepard asked sharply, crossing her arms. The Illusive Man pulled a drag from his ever-present cigarette and exhaled, the plume of smoke pouring out from his lips before he responded.

"Good work defeating the Collectors, Shepard," the Illusive Man said. "Although I have to say that I'm disappointed that you decided to destroy the base. Who knows what we could have learned from there. We might have discovered a way to defeat the Reapers once and for all." He took another pull from his cigarette before continuing. "I must also confess that I am surprised about your decision, considering that you seemed to be receptive to Cerberus' goals in the past."

"That thing was a Reaper-making factory," Shepard retorted. "The derelict Reaper managed to indoctrinate and turn the entire science team there into husks just by existing, and the Reaper IFF crippled my ship and nearly killed my crew. God alone knows what would have happened if you had gotten your hands on the information there."

"That is not for you to decide, Shepard," the Illusive Man said as he crushed his cigarette and pulled out a fresh one from his jacket pocket. "We need every edge we can to fight the Reapers, especially if the Council remains as stubborn as they are now. Humanity needs you, Shepard."

"You mean, _Cerberus_ needs me," Shepard corrected.

"Cerberus _is_ humanity," the Illusive Man said. "And you still owe me for bringing you back to life."

"No, I don't," Shepard said, her grim smile twisting her lightly glowing scars. "You resurrected me to stop the Collectors, and that's exactly what I did. If you don't like my methods, that's your problem, but my debt to you is paid." Looking away from her former host, she added, "Joker, lose this channel." With a flicker and a hiss, the image of Shepard disappeared, leaving the Illusive Man alone with a glass of scotch, a cigarette, and an image of a sun that glowed a strange mixture of red and blue.

------

Nearly five months had passed since that day. After stopping in Omega to drop of Zaeed and Jack, as well as patch up any major damages, the _SR-2 Normandy_ managed to limp its way back to the Citadel. There Thane had left so that he could spend his last days with his son, as well as several of the minor crew who had families. Surprisingly, however, most of her ground team remained behind, as well as Gardner, Kelly, Ken and Gabby. When asked, practically all of them said that they joined her to fight the Reapers, and they were with her till the end. The only ones that said otherwise were Grunt, who claimed that she was his battlemaster, Legion, who said that it was not necessary for it to return to the Perseus Veil and would remain an envoy of the geth, and Kasumi, who said that she was having too much fun around Shepard to leave.

"Besides," she said, "I've accumulated enough wealth over my career to take a little…sabbatical." Shepard gave her a confused look, but otherwise did not complain.

The Council had reluctantly acknowledged the Reapers' existence after presenting evidence from the derelict Reaper and the Collector base, including helmet cam footage gof the human Reaper. When confronted about the presence of a geth among her crew, Shepard stated that as a Spectre, she was free to do whatever was necessary to ensure the completion of her mission, to which the councilors begrudgingly agreed.

The Council had ordered the bolstering of their fleets under the cover story of an unidentified threat from beyond the Terminus Systems, a story that was technically true but still did not reveal the presence of the Reapers to the general public. They had also approved of the full repairing of the _Normandy_, although the presence of EDI was kept secret from them. Afterwards, Shepard was to do whatever was necessary to prepare for the incoming invasion, which to the Council meant gallivanting all over the galaxy to deal with minor problems.

"I saved their asses twice in three years and I'm still treated like a goddamn errand girl," Shepard grumbled to herself as they approached a relay that would take them to the Local Cluster. Kelly smiled at her commander's complaining, but said nothing.

"Approaching the relay now, Shepard," Joker announced over the comm. System as he entered the coordinates for the Charon relay. As the _Normandy_ approached the enormous mass relay, the device released energy from its center to surround the ship. Joker was prepared to kick back and let the automated systems do the rest of the work when warning alarms began to go off. "Crap, that's not good," he said, his hands flying over the holographic consoles. "EDI, what the hell's going on?"

"I don't know," the _Normandy_ AI said. "There is an anomalous energy signature emanating from the mass relay." The ship began to shudder more than normal during a jump. "I cannot stop the jump process, Jeff, I'm sorry," EDI apologized.

"Shit," Joker swore, grabbing onto the armrests of his chair. "Hang on everybody, this could get ugly!" The Normandy began to rattle violently, and those who did not grab hold of something solid were swiftly knocked about. Joker himself felt several of his bones break and cried out in pain accordingly, but maintained his death grip on his chair until the turbulence finally stopped.

When the shaking finally stopped, Shepard released her stranglehold on the galaxy map's railing, which now had two hand-shaped indents on them. Steadying herself, she turned to her yeoman, who was also clutching the railing.

"You okay, Kelly?" Shepard asked. When the other woman nodded, Shepard turned her attention to EDI. "EDI, damage report."

"There is superficial damage across all interior sections of the ship," the AI reported, "along with minor injuries amongst the crew members. However, Joker has several broken bones that require immediate attendance," she continued.

"That's just great," Shepard grumbled, reaching for the button to activate the ship's comm. system. "Shepard to Chakwas, Joker's in bad shape; get a medical team to the bridge ASAP!" Five minutes later, Joker was being carried out on a gurney, splints across his left arm and both legs. When the medical team disappeared into the elevator, Shepard spoke again. "EDI, what the hell just happened?" she asked.

"I don't know, Shepard," EDI replied, "I am currently running a diagnostic. However, I can confirm that we have reached the Sol system."

"Can you fly us the rest of the way without Joker?" Shepard asked as she helped the bridge crew back to their feet.

"Not until I complete my diagnostic," EDI said. With a heavy sigh, Shepard checked on her various crew members, who mostly seemed occupied with cleaning up whatever mess had occurred in their little domain. She had just left from checking on Garrus in the forward battery when EDI's holographic avatar appeared. "Shepard, I have completed my diagnostic," she said. "None of my systems are damaged, but I detected an unusual anomaly that you should be aware about." Shepard frowned at the announcement and asked what it was. "I have calculated the stellar positioning relative to our current location, and have determined that although we are in the Sol system, we are in fact sometime in the first decade of the twenty-first century."

----

And that's that; I hope that you enjoyed it. The Stargate crew will start showing up next chapter.

It's been years since I last watched _Stargate SG-1_, so please feel free to correct me on any mistakes that I may make in that regard.

Also, a question for you military folks out there: What role does Garrus serve on the _Normandy_? And I don't mean gameplay wise, I mean when you're on the ship. In the first game, he seemed to be in charge of maintaining the Mako, and in the second he messed around with the ship's weapons, so I'm curious as to how he should be labeled.

When you think about it, out of the twelve possible crew members, less than half of them actually _do_ something: Miranda is the XO, Garrus is messing with the ship's guns, Tali's down in Engineering, Mordin does his mad scientist work, and I'm assuming Jacob is the armorer, considering that's where he hangs out. The rest are basically freeloaders.

So anyway, I hope that you liked it; don't forget to leave a review on your way out!


	2. Chapter 2

I own neither Mass Effect nor Stargate.

----

For a moment, Shepard was stunned into silence. The twenty-first century?!

"The twenty-first century…are you absolutely certain?" she asked.

"I am 98.854 percent certain," EDI said. "However, I cannot pinpoint a specific date." Shepard cradled her head in her hand as she processed the mind-boggling impossibility of her current situation.

"But time travel is supposed to be impossible!" she said. "How did this even happen?" she added.

"Right before the relay jump, I detected an anomaly in the mass relay's energy signature, however I was unable to abort the jump," EDI explained. "However, due to our lack of understanding concerning the mass relays, I can only speculate as to what could cause such an anomaly."

"Guess," Shepard growled impatiently.

"Two possibilities are sabotage or weapons damage," EDI said. "However, I did not detect evidence of either event, which leaves one possibility: While mass relays are undeniably durable, they are still constructed of matter, and its components are not immune to the effects of entropy." Shepard frowned for a second as she tried to interpret EDI's last statement, before realization dawned on her.

"You're saying that we got flung almost two hundred years into the past, because the relay decided to break down?!" Shepard asked, her voice rising to a near yell. "I mean, there's got to be a better explanation than that!"

"Perhaps," EDI conceded, "but considering the lack of available data, mechanical failure is the best hypothesis I can make at this time." Shepard leaned against a nearby wall and held her head in her hands again. "And before you ask, I cannot even begin to speculate on a way to return us to our current time," the AI added.

"This is not happening, this is not happening…" Shepard muttered to herself. She could handle a mad rogue spectre. She could handle a race of genocial machines from beyond the galactic border. She could even handle being brought back from the dead, but this was too much for her. Taking a few deep, calming breaths, she regained her cool, collected composure. "We can't just sit at the edge of the solar system waiting for a miracle to bring us home, so can you fly us to Earth without Joker's help?" she asked EDI, back into full commander mode.

"I can," EDI confirmed. "While I lack Joker's…finesse during combat, I can fly us to a destination without his assistance." A slight shudder confirmed that they had entered FTL flight. "We will arrive at Earth in approximately two hours." Nothing further to say to the AI, Shepard decided to check on Joker in the medical bay, where he lay asleep, his arm and legs wrapped in casts.

"How's he doing, Doc?" Shepard asked Chakwas, the ship's senior medical officer.

"He came out lucky," the older woman said. "There were no serious breaks, so with the medi-gel treatment, he should be fully healed in a day or two. Fortunately, he was the most serious case; everybody else just suffered some minor bruising and cuts from when stuff fell onto them during the turbulence. Do you know what caused that?" the wizened British woman asked.

"No," Shepard said. "EDI thinks that it was some sort of malfunction in the mass relay, but we don't know for sure." Shepard sighed and rubbed the back of her head, not sure what else to say. "I better go check on the rest of the crew; see you later, Doc."

"Later, Shepard," Chakwas said as her commanding officer stepped out of the medical bay. With no one else to talk to, the doctor sighed and returned to her computer to complete her report.

------

Millions of miles away, orbiting Earth, an entirely different ship from the _SR-2 Normandy_ made an interesting find. Master Sergeant Walter Harriman, the main technician for the BC-303 deep space battleship _Prometheus_ detected an unusual energy signature coming from the outer edge of the solar system.

"General Hammond, long-range scanners have picked up an unknown energy signature from the area around Pluto," Walter reported to his superior officer, Lieutenant General George Hammond.

"Is it the Goa'uld? Or SG-1?" the bald man asked, worried.

"Negative sir," Walter said. "It doesn't match any ship we've seen so far. It also seems to be heading straight for us sir, and fast. It'll be in orbit around Earth in roughly two hours," he continued. General Hammond breathed a sigh that was half weary, half relieved.

"Ready the weapons," General Hammond ordered. "We don't know what that thing is, or if it's hostile." For all he knew, it could be a new Goa'uld weapon designed to soften them up before the main fleet arrived, or an alien race that took a wrong turn and stumbled into Earth space.

Everyone on Earth that knew of the existence of the Stargate and its history was anxiously awaiting either a Goa'uld fleet here in an attempt to destroy Earth, or for the elite team known as SG-1 to return with a mysterious alien weapon to repel said fleet. The appearance of this strange new entity was _not_ a welcome sight for General Hammond, but all he could for now was wait and pray that whatever it was, it was not hostile.

------

"EDI, when you drop us out of FTL, I want you to be ready to activate the stealth system," Shepard ordered. "If I recall correctly, Earth shouldn't have the technology to detect us at this time, but no point in taking chances."

"As you command, Shepard," EDI said. "Exiting FTL in three…two…one; engaging stealth drive." The blue corona covering the windows of the _Normandy_ faded away to reveal the brilliant blue figure of Earth, birthplace of humanity…along with a large, unfamiliar ship in orbit around it.

"EDI, what the hell is that?" Shepard demanded, gaping at the ship before her. It was hard to tell from the window, but she guessed that it had to be at least half as long as the _Normandy_, and at least twice as wide.

"I don't know, Shepard," EDI said. "It does not match any ship silhouette in my database. Also, it seems that its weapons are armed, but it has not locked onto us. Also, we are being hailed." Suddenly a deep, male voice with a light Texan accent came out from the comm. system.

"This is General Hammond of the _USS Prometheus_," the voice said. "Identify yourselves immediately." Shepard furrowed her brow at the familiarity of the ship's name.

"Prometheus?" she asked, unable to remember where she had heard it.

"A figure from Greek mythology," EDI chimed in. "Supposedly gave Man the gift of fire, and was punished by the gods to be eternally chained to a rock and have his liver torn out by an eagle every day."

"Lovely," Shepard drawled sarcastically. "How the hell did they get our comm. frequency?" she asked.

"It seems that they have broadcasted on all available frequencies in the hope that we would be on one of them," EDI said. After a moment, she continued, "This ship has unknown offensive and defensive capabilities. Until I can determine whether we would be able to win in a fight or not, I would suggest we acquiesce to their request." Shepard sighed, but nodded in agreement.

"All right, open a channel," she ordered.

------

Walter had been diligently following the progress of the mysterious entity for the past two hours and change, when the signal suddenly disappeared, just as it appeared right in front of them.

"Uh sir, I lost them," the technician replied.

"What do you mean, 'lost them?'" General Hammond asked.

"I was tracking them, and they stopped near our position before the signal just…vanished," Walter explained, shrugging helplessly. General Hammond frowned and turned his attention to the large screen to the left of him.

"Bring up the visual scanner, see if we can't find them," the general ordered. An image of deep space appeared on the screen; eventually, it zoomed in on a small, sleek ship of a design that General Hammond had never seen before. It had a low, wide profile and was painted white and black. But the most interesting part of the design was the name printed on the side, in plain English: _SR-2 Normandy_. "Sergeant," General Hammond said, "what in the hell am I looking at here?"

"I don't know, sir," Walter said as he frantically typed away at his console. "There are no known ships being built by the name of Normandy, especially one that looks like that. I also can't lock on to them; it's like they're invisible, but…not," he added, wincing as he belatedly realized just how stupid his last comment sounded.

"Hail them on all frequencies," General Hammond said. "If we're lucky, we'll get a response."

"Aye, sir, broadcasting on all frequencies," Walter said as he carried out his order. "the comm. is yours, sir." Clearing his throat, General Hammond spoke.

"This is General Hammond of the _USS Prometheus_," the old man declared. "Identify yourselves immediately." A few tense minutes later, a female voice replied.

"This is Commander Jane Shepard of the _SSV Normandy_," she said. "What business do you have here on Earth, General?" Shepard asked.

"I could ask the same of you, Commander," General Hammond replied.

"I am on a mission of a sensitive nature," Shepard said.

"Funny, so am I," General Hammond said. Seconds passed away in silence before Shepard spoke again.

"It seems that we find ourselves at an impasse," she said. "Two parties who don't want to reveal what they're doing to the other, and has no idea what they're capable of offensively. Perhaps this would go over better if we spoke face-to-face. Your place or mine?" she asked.

"I believe my place would be better," General Hammond said, unable to keep a slight grin off his face.

"Ooh, inviting me over without even so much as a dinner first," Shepard cooed. "My, my, General, you do move fast." The _Prometheus'_ bridge crew could not help but chuckle; this Shepard character had a sense of humor, at least. "However," she continued seriously, "I can't just hop over to your ship without some sort of insurance policy." General Hammond sighed; he should have known that there would be a catch.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I'm willing to send myself and two others over as part of my security detail," Shepard said. "In return, I want three people from your crew as guests of my ship during the duration of our talks. In particular, I want your XO, your chief engineer and your master gunner." General Hammond gave another weary sigh.

"How do I know you won't torture and kill them the moment they set foot on your ship?" he asked.

"The same way I'm trusting that you won't do the same to me," Shepard replied. "So, what's your answer?" General Hammond turned to his executive officer Colonel Kirkland, and then to Walter, who both nodded in acceptance.

"Alright, you win. How do I send them over to you?" General Hammond asked.

"My shuttle is preprogrammed to return to my ship," Shepard said. "Your men can just step on as we get off and enjoy the ride. Where shall we dock?"

"You can dock at the starboard hangar bay," General Hammond said, broadcasting the location of said hangar bay.

"Excellent," Shepard said. "I look forward to our meeting, General. Shepard out," she said before cutting off the transmission. General Hammond looked at the two men that he had just agreed to send to an unknown fate.

"I'm truly sorry about this, gentlemen," he said.

"No apology necessary, sir," Kirkland said, saluting. Walter climbed out of his chair and saluted as well before both men left for the starboard hangar bay. Rubbing his forehead with his hand, General Hammond pressed on a button on his chair.

"Sergeant McDowell, report to the starboard hangar bay immediately," he said. Now there was nothing that he could do but wait.

------

With initial negotiations over with, Shepard called for Jacob and Tali to meet her in the hangar bay before she stepped into the elevator that led to her private loft to change into her combat armor. As she entered her room and stepped toward her closet, she pressed a door to open it and reveal several suits of armor. One was a silver set with a red dragon painted across the chest, sytlized after medieval knight's armor. One had a red-and-gold color scheme that reminded her of a comic book hero she saw someone reading about while she was in basic. Another was an a heavy, boxy armor courtesy of Cerberus. Another was an almost entirely jet-black armor that gave an aura of foreboding to any who witnessed it. Another one was entirely unique, as it seemed to be made out of the carapace of an insect instead of metal. And finally, there was her trusty modular N7 armor, which she decided to wear today.

After stripping down to her underwear and applying the armor piece by piece, she grabbed her helmet and rode the elevator back down to the second floor where she entered the Armory. Deciding to forego the sniper rifle, she grabbed the Carnifex hand cannon, Eviscerator shotgun and the enormous Revenant light machine gun. She hesitated at the heavy weapons table, unable to choose between the flamethrower or the arc projector. Finally grabbing the arc projector, Shepard walked back into the elevator and rode it down to the hangar bay at the very bottom of the ship. When she exited, she saw Jacob, who was wearing another copy of the Cerberus armor and Tali, as well as Miranda Lawson, who had a disapproving look on her face.

"Shepard, do you really think that it's wise to send yourself to an unknown ship?" the Australian ex-Cerberus operative asked, crossing her arms.

"No," Shepard replied bluntly, fastening her helmet, "but we have no idea what these people are capable of, so peace seems to be the best option for now." As the away team climbed into the Kodiak shuttle, Shepard turned back to Miranda. "We'll be expecting some guests soon," she warned her XO, "try not to scare them too much." Miranda scowled at her commander as she climbed in and closed the shuttle door before exiting the _Normandy_.

------

In the starboard hangar bay of the _Prometheus_, the security team, as well as the three crew members chosen as "guests" were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their mysterious visitors. Soon, a white shuttle with thrusters on both ends drifted in, gracefully settling itself down on the ground. The security team readied their weapons for whatever came out of the shuttle; what did come out was three beings, their weapons also at the ready. First was a black man in boxy white armor holding what looked like a futuristic shotgun. The second person was a masked alien wearing a black, skintight suit that accentuated her feminine features, who was also wielding a shotgun. The final person to step out was a woman dressed in dull gray armor, wielding an enormous weapon that seemed more at home attached to a truck than in the hands of a soldier. There was also shapeless lumps of metal on the backs and hips of the three soldiers, presumably more weapons.

"Are you Commander Shepard?" Sergeant Caleb Burnstein, Head of Security on the _Prometheus_, asked.

"I am," Shepard said.

"I've been ordered to relieve you of your weapons and escort you to a secure meeting place," Burnstein said. Truthfully, after seeing the amount of firepower their guests were packing, Burnstein was less than enthusiastic about telling them that, but orders were orders. After a few tense seconds, Shepard nodded to her two companions, and they lowered their weapons. She reached down and pulled something back on her weapon, and a small object popped out. She swiftly snatched it from the air and slid it into a circular object wrapped around her right arm. Then she pushed a button on the side and, to Burnstein's surprise, collapsed into a smaller, vaguely square-shaped mass of metal.

"Be careful with that, it's heavy," Shepard warned as she held the now collapsed gun out. Burnstein took the gun from her hands and almost buckled at just how heavy it was. It felt like it weighed at least fifty pounds, and yet she held it like it hardly weighed anything at all! The three soldiers quickly disarmed themselves, save for a rather wicked-looking knife strapped to the leg of the alien.

"I'm sorry…ma'am," Burnstein said, hesitating as to what he should call the alien. "I'm going to need that knife too." That seemed to have struck a nerve with her, as her body suddenly tensed up.

"It was a gift from my father," she said sharply, crossing her arms.

"Tali, it's okay," Shepard said placatingly. The alien – Tali – looked at Shepard for a moment before sighing and bending over to remove the knife – giving the soldiers behind her a rather nice view of her rear end. Standing up, she placed the knife on top of an already heavy armful of weapons.

"I expect that back," she said to the unlucky soldier who now possessed it. Shepard turned to the small group of Kirkland, Walter and McDowell, who stood separate from the security team.

"You the away team?" Shepard asked. When they nodded, she continued, "Just step into the shuttle, and it'll take care of the rest." When the three men stepped into the Kodiak, the door closed automatically and flew off back to the _Normandy_. After the shuttle faded away, Shepard turned back to Burnstein. "So, can we see General Hammond now?"

"Yes, of course," Burnstein said as he passed on the Revenant to some other unlucky sap to haul away. "Follow me please." Turning around, he began to walk to the designated meeting place, the three visitors following behind him.

----

And that's the end of that. Shepard and Hammond will meet next chapter. Depending on how long they talk, we might even get to see some action too!

Thanks to everyone who suggested what position Garrus is in. I really appreciate it.

Don't forget to review!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, is killing my breaks again. What a pain.

I don't own Mass Effect or Stargate.

Walter, Kirkland and McDowell sat uncomfortably in the Kodiak shuttle as it made its way back to the _Normandy_. Although the vehicle itself was quite spacious, there was still an intense feeling of claustrophobia within it. Walter believed that it was a combination of the uncertainty of being in the hands of an unknown power and the fact that there was only a few centimeters of metal and glass protecting the shuttle's occupants against the vacuum beyond. Eventually, the Kodiak docked in the _Normandy's_ vehicle bay, and Walter saw people milling about outside before the shuttle door opened, revealing several security guards pointing strange-looking weapons at them. Standing directly in front of them was a well-figured brunette woman wearing very flattering form-fitting black clothes, and the three men had to struggle not to have their eyes shift downwards as they climbed out of the shuttle, hands raised above their heads.

"Search them," the woman said in an Australian accent. Three of the security guards lowered their weapons and began patting down and searching the pockets of the three _Prometheus_ crew members.

"They're clean," one man said. The woman nodded in acknowledgement, and the rest of the security team lowered their weapons.

"I apologize for that," the woman said. "My name is Miranda Lawson, XO of this vessel. I've been told to hold you here while our respective commanders discuss our little situation. Please escort our guests to the starboard observation deck, Lieutenant," she said, turning to the apparent leader of the security force.

"Yes, ma'am," the man said, saluting before turning to the _Prometheus_ crew. "Please follow me," he said before turning and leading the way to where they would be held. The elevator was rather cramped with seven people riding inside it, and they passed several people along the way who paid no attention to the new arrivals. They eventually arrived at a small room with a window out into space taking up almost the entire far wall. With the exception of a wall-mounted sofa and three collapsible cots piled into one corner, there was very little furniture within it. "Due to security purposes, we cannot allow you to wander about the ship," the lieutenant explained. "There will be two security guards posted outside at all times; if you need anything, just knock. Any questions?"

"Yes," Kirkland said, stepping up, "how long are we going to be held here?"

"You will be held until our Commanders have finished talking and our away team is safely returned," the lieutenant answered. "Who knows how long that'll take?" Apparently unwilling to answer any more questions, the soldier turned and left the room, the door closing behind him. The light coming from the center of the door turned from green to an ominous red, signaling that it was now locked. Walter decided to break the stifling silence between the three men.

"Well, at least we have a nice view," he said.

General Hammond spent several minutes figuring out whom to appoint as temporary commander of the _Prometheus_ while he spoke with the visitors. Having made a decision, he moved on to where his guests were being held and walked into the room. Sitting at the lone table within was a black man wearing bulky white armor, a female alien wearing a face-concealing mask, and a Caucasian woman with gray, form-fitting armor. The woman's auburn hair hung limply over her face. She also had several wicked-looking scars on her cheek and, although it was hard to tell in the light, they almost seemed to be glowing slightly. And unlike her companions, who seemed tense and alert, the woman seemed almost serene in her composure, rhythmically strumming her fingers on the table. When General Hammond entered, she turned her gaze from the wall to him, her brilliant green eyes tinged with red.

"General Hammond, I presume?" she said as she stood straight, offering her hand. General Hammond cautiously returned the gesture.

"I am," he said. "You must be Commander Shepard," he continued, pulling up a chair for himself.

"You would be correct," Shepard said, returning to her own seat. "These are my companions, Jacob and Tali," she continued, gesturing to the black man and the alien respectively. Jacob stood briefly and saluted General Hammond before returning to his seat. Tali simply said a neutral "Hello."

"A pleasure to meet you," General Hammond said.

"It seems that we've stumbled into a misunderstanding," Shepard said, her once calm face turning into a stony visage, revealing no emotions whatsoever. Both Jacob and Tali had seen Shepard's negotiation skills, which ranged from sympathetic to borderline sadistic and silently wondered which path she would take today.

"Indeed we have," General Hammond said, linking his fingers together. "You might want to start by telling me how you found Earth; its location is supposed to be a secret," he said seriously.

"You must have a different definition of secret than I do, General," Shepard said, her mask not wavering even for a moment, "because the location of Earth is public knowledge." General Hammond's eyebrows raised in surprise. Were they on the same page? "My turn," Shepard said, interrupting the general's thoughts. "Who do you represent? You don't seem like Cerberus, and I doubt that the Illusive Man would spend the money to create an entirely new ship design just to mess with me. I doubt the Shadow Broker would go through this much trouble either. No one in the Terminus systems has the resources to fund this kind of project, and it certainly isn't an Alliance or Council model, so what does that make you?" General Hammond frowned in confusion. With the exception of Cerberus, which he vaguely remembered from his high school history classes, he did not recognize any of the names that Shepard had mentioned.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know of any 'Alliance' or 'Council,' or any of the names you mentioned," he said. "This ship was paid for and constructed by the United States Air Force." If Shepard felt surprise at the statement, she did not show it. Her companion Jacob however, widened his eyes slightly in surprise. General Hammond could not tell Tali's reaction through her nearly opaque mask. "Who do _you_ represent?" he asked. "I don't recognize your ship's design from anywhere, and my subordinates have done quite a bit of travelling."

"I represent the Council and the Alliance," Shepard said. "I also represent all life in the galaxy that would unite together against a greater foe." General Hammond frowned at her statement. _Well, that was remarkably vague_, he thought.

"You mean the Goa'uld?" General Hammond asked. That had finally managed to elicit a reaction from Shepard, whose brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

"I don't know of these 'Goold' that you speak of," she said honestly. For several moments, no words were spoken as the two commanders stared each other down.

"It seems obvious to me that we're not on the same page," Shepard finally said. "How 'bout this: You give me a rundown of what's going on, and I'll do the same. Deal?" General Hammond had to agree with her; even though they were both talking in English, it was like they were speaking two different languages, and though he was not fond of the idea of revealing the stargate to a stranger, he realized that he had no choice if he wanted to make any progress.

"Very well," he finally said. For the next hour, General Hammond explained the existence of the stargate, as well as the Goa'uld and how the people of Earth had made enemies of them several years ago. In return, Shepard gave a brief history of the mass relays, as well as the pending Reaper invasion. Any further discussions were interrupted by a voice ringing over the comm. system.

"General Hammond," the voice said urgently, "We've detected Anubis on our long-range sensors! His fleet will be here in approximately thirty minutes!" General Hammond reached up and tapped the small device placed in his ear.

"Any sign of SG-1?" he asked. Whoever was on the other end responded negative. "Damn it," General Hammond muttered under his breath before turning to Shepard. "You need to return to your ship, and I need my crew back," he said.

"Agreed," Shepard said as she stood up and grabbed her helmet. As General Hammond turned to leave, Shepard laid a hand on his shoulder. "General, I'm willing to lend a hand, but I need something in return," she said.

"What is it?" General Hammond asked. Shepard opened her mouth to respond, but quickly closed it when she did not provide an answer.

"I haven't decided yet," she admitted. "Call it a favor." General Hammond was not comfortable with agreeing to an unspecified favor, but at the moment he was willing to take whatever help he could get.

"Alright," he said. "I'll have someone prepare a summary of what we'll probably be facing," he continued as he shrugged off Shepard's hand and continued back to the bridge.

"Appreciate it," Shepard said as she slid her helmet back on and activated her radio. "Miranda, send our guests back ASAP, and tell the crew to ready battle stations; we're about to have company." Without waiting for a response, Shepard and her crew moved as fast as they practically could in the cramped hallways of the _Prometheus_ to the hangar bay. By the time they got there, the Kodiak shuttle had already arrived, and several crew members stood by holding the _Normandy_ crew's confiscated weapons. Grabbing their weapons and hastily reattaching them to their respective hardpoints, the away team jumped into the Kodiak and flew back to their ship. As they stepped into the elevator, EDI chimed in.

"Commander, I have received the data packet from the _Prometheus_, and am currently analyzing it," the AI said. "Also, Joker is awake, and is making quite a scene in the medical bay; you may want to investigate that." Shepard sighed and thanked the AI before tapping the button to lead to the third deck. When the doors hissed open, Shepard turned the corner and walked toward the medical bay, where Joker was arguing with Chakwas.

"Shepard!" Joker exclaimed. "Thank God you're here! You're a talker; tell the good doctor here that I'm fine!"

"You are most certainly not fine!" Chakwas retorted. "Or have you forgotten that your legs are still broken?" To emphasize her point, she pointed at Joker's legs, which were still wrapped in casts.

"My arm's fine, though!" Joker said, waving his now unbound arm around as evidence. "And I don't need my feet to fly. C'mon, Shepard, you need me and you know it." Shepard sighed and turned to Chakwas.

"As uncomfortable as I am bringing him back in at less than one hundred percent, he's right," she said, raising a hand to silence the doctor's protests. "We've got an unknown number of hostiles arriving in fifteen minutes, so we need Joker's piloting skills. You can have him back when the battle's over." Chakwas looked as if she was debating whether to continue the argument or not, but eventually bowed her head in acceptance. Pulling out a folding wheelchair, the two women hauled Joker out from the hospital bed and wheeled him to his seat in the bridge.

"Commander, I have completed my analysis of the data packet," EDI said, her avatar appearing beside Joker's console. "Based on the data provided, two disruptor torpedoes should critically weaken an enemy ha'tak's shields; a two-second burst from the Thanix cannon should destroy them completely."

"I take it that's a good thing?" Shepard asked, confused.

"It is," EDI replied. "According to the data, ha'taks are roughly equivalent in size and abilities to a dreadnought." Shepard's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wow," she said, "lucky us. How many torpedoes do we have?" she continued.

"We currently have a full stock of thirty-six disruptor torpedoes," EDI said. "We also have a stock of twelve Javelin missiles."

"Excellent," Shepard said. "Save two of each in reserve, and ready two disruptor torpedoes."

"Acknowledged, Commander," EDI said. After marking off two of each brand of missile as off-limits, she initiated the second part of her orders. Deep within the bowels of the _Normandy_, two mechanical arms fluidly moved around and extracted two disruptor torpedoes from their containment unit, spinning around to insert the explosives into the launch tubes. "Launch tubes have been loaded, Commander," EDI announced. "Torpedoes are prepped to launch on your order."

"Good," Shepard said, crossing her arms. "All we can do now is wait."

Five…ten…fifteen tense minutes passed by, the two human ships anxiously waiting for their foes to arrive. Their patience was finally rewarded by a massive vortex being ripped into space, ejecting out a massive fleet of ships, one dwarfing all others.

"Holy shit," Joker said, voicing the thoughts running through everyone's heads. "That thing's as big as Sovereign! And there's a ton of them!" EDI's avatar appeared to add her comments.

"I detect thirty-one hostile vessels," the AI said. "According to the data packet I received, the large vessel is the enemy flagship, and measures approximately two kilometers in diameter. Its shields are also incredibly strong."

"_Normandy_, this is the _Prometheus_," General Hammond's voice said over the ship's comm. system. "We are about to engage the enemy. A small vessel containing one of our teams may show up during the battle. Do not, I repeat, _do not_ attack that vessel. I am sending you the profile now." A small chime rang, alerting that the file had been received.

"Thanks, _Prometheus_," Shepard said. "There are thirty ships minus the flagship, so we each get half. Happy hunting," she continued before ending the transmission. "Joker, engage the nearest enemy vessel." Joker's hands flew across his console as the Normandy accelerated towards the Goa'uld fleet.

"Detecting incoming weapons fire," EDI warned. "I recommend evasive maneuvers." Joker pulled up to dodge the glowing yellow bolts of energy that the ha'tak had thrown in the _Normandy's_ general direction. The ha'tak's attacks continued to miss the _Normandy_ as the frigate continued to dance around and charge towards the Goa'uld ship. "We have entered maximum torpedo range. Shall I fire, Commander?" EDI asked.

"Launch all torpedoes," Shepard ordered.

"Acknowledged, torpedoes away," EDI confirmed. Two mass effect fields manifested within the torpedo launch tubes and jettisoned the two torpedoes out. Exactly one second after launch, the torpedoes' own maneuvering thrusters activated, propelling the two explosives towards their targets.

The Goa'uld were confident that their ships' shields could not be penetrated by anything short of a barrage of energy weapons' fire, so they failed to add any sort of point-defense system to their ships. This allowed the disruptor torpedoes to fly towards their target unopposed and impact against the shields. The unstable mass effect storm caused unimaginable amounts of strain on the shield's generators, bringing it on the verge of failure. The Normandy swooped in and gave a brief burst of their Thanix cannon, destroying the shield completely. Turning around for another pass, a full blast of the Thanix cannon struck the now vulnerable ha'tak itself; the jet of molten metal, accelerated to 1/30th the speed of light, easily sliced through the ha'tak and penetrated the naquadah core, causing the ship to explode in a spectacular ball of fire.

The crew of the _Prometheus_ watched in awe as the _Normandy_ effortlessly cut down an enemy ha'tak in seconds using what looked like a pale blue laser beam. Though General Hammond considered himself to be a humble man, he could not help but feel a small twinge of jealousy at the sheer power the tiny ship contained while he futilely pounded against the same shields with missiles and railguns to less-than-ideal effect. As another ha'tak was destroyed, hundreds of death gliders came pouring out of the remaining ships to intercept the _Normandy_.

"Sergeant, shoot down some of those death gliders," General Hammond ordered.

"Yes, sir," Walter said as he re-targeted some of the _Prometheus'_ weapons into the swarm of Goa'uld fighters and began to shoot them down while still pounding away at the ha'taks.

"Wherever you are out there, SG-1, I hope you get here fast," General Hammond said quietly to himself as the _Prometheus_ shuddered from the ha'taks' weapons impacting against its shields, "because I don't think we can keep this up for long."

When Anubis had entered the Tau'ri's home system, he was confident that he could easily crush whatever resistance they could muster. When he saw that they only had two ships to defend their home planet against his fleet, and his confidence only grew. However, his glee turned to confusion and then anger when one of the ships had effortlessly dodged his weapons fire and quickly destroyed one of his ha'taks using weapons that he did not recognize.

"What happened?" the half-ascended System Lord growled to his First Prime, who frantically manned the ship's controls.

"I do not know, my lord," the jaffa said. "There was some sort of disturbance on the surface of the ha'tak's shield before the ship destroyed it." An alarm went off, alerting the destruction of another ha'tak. The jaffa looked up to see the remnants of the second ha'tak's explosion.

"Shoot it down," Anubis snarled. His First Prime tried to carry out his master's orders, but was unable to get a lock on the _Normandy_.

"I cannot, my lord," the jaffa said. "I am unable to obtain a fix on its position. It must be jamming its signature somehow." Anubis clenched his fists and growled in anger.

"Launch all death gliders," he ordered. "I want that ship destroyed." The First Prime nodded and sent an alert to all ships to launch their death gliders, pleased to serve his god.

"We can't keep this up forever, EDI," Shepard said from her spot at the Combat Information Center as they shot down a third ha'tak. "We're going to run out of torpedoes eventually. Can you hack their computers and lower their shields?"

"I am attempting to do so, Commander," EDI said as Joker dodged more weapons fire. "However, this technology is wholly unfamiliar to me, so it is taking longer than normal to decode it."

"C'mon, EDI, you cracked the Collector's data faster than this!" Joker exclaimed as he continued to fly around and between the enemy vessels.

"The Collector's data was based on Reaper coding, which I am familiar with," EDI explained. "That is not the case here. I am devoting all available processing power to the problem, and Legion is assisting as well, so I am working as fast as I possibly can. Also, I detect incoming enemy fighters; _lots_ of enemy fighters." True enough, the display of the battlefield before Shepard suddenly filled with dozens, if not hundreds of new red dots. However, a few of them immediately winked out of existence, which Shepard assumed was from fire from the _Prometheus_.

"Activate GARDIAN array," Shepard ordered. As soon as she spoke the command, a dozen small, domed laser turrets emerged along the spine of the _Normandy_. Spinning around, the turrets each locked onto a target and fired a powerful infrared laser. With the only evidence being a three-inch-wide red dot on the vessel, the pilots of the death gliders did not even know that they had been targeted until their ship unexpectedly exploded, the laser burning through the death glider's armor and penetrating the naquadah core. However, the sheer number of death gliders hounding the _Normandy_ forced Joker to abandon targeting the ha'taks in an effort to not be hit by the volleys of weapons fire.

"Shepard, although our stealth system prevents the Goa'uld from targeting us, I believe that the fighters will be able to hit us simply by sheer volume of fire," EDI said as the GARDIAN lasers continued to cut down death gliders. "I would suggest requesting assistance from the _Prometheus_ to reduce their numbers." As if to emphasize her point, the ship shuddered as a few lucky shots had managed to impact the _Normandy_. The shields absorbed most of the impact, but there were several new scorch marks on the outer hull.

"I agree," Shepard said as she opened a communications line with the _Prometheus_.

"Sir, I'm detecting a hyperspace window opening over Antarctica," Walter said. Checking the signature of the ship that had arrived, he turned to General Hammond. "Sir, its SG-1!" he said excitedly.

"Thank God," General Hammond said. With SG-1 here, they could activate whatever Ancient weapon that they had discovered and end this battle once and for all. His euphoria was cut short however as he received an urgent transmission from the Normandy.

"_Prometheus_, this is _Normandy_, we're taking heavy fire!" Shepard's voice rang out. "We'd really appreciate it if you took some of this heat off our tail!" General Hammond looked at the video screen and saw that the _Normandy_ was flying around randomly, being chased by what looked to be every death glider in Anubis' fleet.

"We'll be there in a minute, _Normandy_, just hold on," General Hammond said before turning to his pilot. "Get us over there on the double," he ordered, and his subordinate immediately set a course to the smaller ship, guns blazing and missiles flying.

Death gliders fell by the dozens, but it seemed that for every one that was shot down, ten more would take its place, and with both ships occupied by the death gliders, the ha'taks were free to make their way closer to Earth to begin their orbital bombardment. However, before they could fire off a shot, a great stream of yellow light came pouring out from the planet's southern pole. The pillar of light split off into many smaller streams as they effortlessly tore through the ha'taks' shields and into the ships themselves. The light streams flowed like water around the _Prometheus_ and the _Normandy_, washing away the death gliders like a cleansing flood. With all enemies eliminated the light coalesced back into a single form and returned from whence it came, leaving only the two human vessels.

General Hammond felt a chuckle tickle his chest. It came out louder and louder until it became a laugh, and was joined by the laughter and cheers of the rest of the crew as they celebrated their victory. Pressing a button on his chair, General Hammond opened a channel to the _Normandy_.

"_Normandy_, this is General Hammond, how are you holding up?" he asked, a smile still grafted onto his face.

"General, this is Shepard," the woman on the other end replied. "We're a little banged up, but nothing a couple day's repairs and a fresh coat of paint can't fix. Not that I'm complaining, but what just happened back there?"

"I'm not entirely sure," General Hammond said honestly. "Why don't you come down to Earth and ask SG-1 yourself?" For a several seconds, there was no answer. Finally, Shepard responded.

"You know what? I think I will," she said. "Where do you want me to park?"

And that's chapter three. I hope that you enjoyed it. I originally planned to have Shepard infiltrate Anubis' flagship, but I couldn't figure out how I would do it, and this chapter was already running long, so I dropped it.

For those who don't read the Mass Effect Codex, dreadnoughts measure in at 800-1000 meters in length and are the largest ships in any particular fleet; Sovereign weighs in at a whopping two kilometers. According to the Stargate Wiki, ha'taks are 700 meters in length with Anubis' flagship at two kilometers, same as Sovereign.

Don't forget to review!


	4. Chapter 4

Lots of exposition in this chapter. Sorry, but that's how it's got to be.

I own neither Stargate nor Mass Effect.

* * *

"Shepard, are you sure that it's a good idea to bring the entire ground team to this little meet-and-greet that you've arranged?" Miranda asked Shepard as the other woman sorted out her weapons in the Armory.

"Sure," the auburn-haired woman said. "The fewer surprises we keep to our allies, the better." Clipping weapons back onto their respective hardpoints, she continued. "Besides, if things get hairy, the more people we have increases our chances of escape. Oh, and we're going to Antarctica, so you might want to wear something a little…warmer than your usual attire," she said, pointing at Miranda's skintight uniform. "I think Kasumi has a couple of coats stashed away somewhere; we leave in an hour," Shepard said, leaving. Miranda scowled at the perceived insult to her manner of dress, but admitted that Shepard had a point; her uniform was not designed for cold-weather ops. However, she also did not want to take any clothes from Kasumi Goto. While she was like the rest of the crew in that she typically only exited her self-imposed domain for missions, meals and bathroom runs (at least, as far as Miranda knew – who knew where that thief could be lurking with that tactical cloak of hers), she seemed to be second only to Yeoman Chambers in energy and nosiness, always trying to catch up on the latest scuttlebutt and in Miranda's eyes, make a general pest of herself. Her insistence on giving nicknames to all but those with the briefest of names also grated against the Australian woman's sensibilities. Suppressing the urge to sigh, Miranda marched over the elevator and pressed the button to the third deck.

Stepping up to the door that led to the port observation deck, Miranda rapped her knuckle on the door. As Executive Officer, Miranda had the authority to simply walk in, but basic decency demanded that she at least knocked first.

"Come in," Kasumi's muffled voice said from the other side of the door. Pushing the green hologram in the center of the door, it slid open to allow Miranda entry, where she saw Kasumi lounging on her bed. Kasumi was not wearing her signature black hooded catsuit, instead opting to wear a T-shirt and sweat pants, revealing her hair that barely reached past her ears. The red mark on her lip however was still present. She was also reading a small book with a Japanese title and several scantily clad, muscle-bound men on the cover.

"Should I be concerned about the nature of the literature you're bringing onboard, Miss Goto?" Miranda asked, raising an eyebrow at the book.

"Nope," Kasumi said as she dog-eared the page that she was on before setting it down. "What brings you down to my place, Miri?" the Japanese woman asked. Miranda managed to suppress the urge to scowl at the nickname Kasumi had chosen for her.

"Shepard has informed me that our next mission will be a cold-weather operation," Miranda said, crossing her arms behind her back. "She also said that you have something for such a situation." Kasumi scratched her chin as she thought about it.

"You know what, I think I do," she said. "It might even be in your size too," she added as she hopped off her bed and headed towards her closet. Opening it, she dug around until she pulled out two large, fluffy, _pink_ coats. She handed one to Miranda, who eyed it critically.

"Why do you even have these?" she asked.

"Just in case Shep decided to do something crazy, like make us take shore leave on Noveria or something," Kasumi explained. Miranda could not help but question Kasumi's logic, but was slightly grateful that she had prepared for such a situation.

"And why did you select _pink_? It doesn't seem to be your color," Miranda observed.

"It was all I could find!" Kasumi said defensively. "There isn't much of a market for cold-weather wear on the Citadel." Miranda looked at the ugly garment again; while she did not like it, or the thought of wearing it, she liked the thought of wearing heavy, restrictive armor even less.

"Excellent work, Miss Goto," she finally said, "report to the hangar bay in one hour." Her personal quest fulfilled, Miranda exited Kasumi's abode to return to her own office. She still had some work left to do before they left, and she had nothing better to do now.

* * *

One hour later, the entire Normandy ground team had assembled in front of the Kodiak shuttle. All the humans in the assembly, along with Tali and Garrus, groaned in protest when Shepard announced that they were all going to be using the shuttle at once.

"I know that the last time we all piled in here, it wasn't very fun," Shepard said, remembering the time when the ground team had to use the shuttle as transportation while EDI installed the Reaper IFF; thirteen people, including a Krogan, piling into a vessel meant only to seat ten human-sized occupants made for a very claustrophobic situation. "But with four less people, there should be a bit more breathing room. Now, everybody hop in!" Realizing that it would do no good to protest further, the crew loyally piled into the shuttle. After the last person had entered, EDI closed the shuttle door and launched it towards Earth's southern pole.

The Kodiak rumbled as it entered Earth's atmosphere, and the red glow outside the window eventually gave way to a white wasteland as far as the eye could see.

"This is your home planet?" Grunt scoffed as he looked out the window, unimpressed. "Not much to look at."

"This is just one small part of it," Jacob explained, "one very small, very _cold_ part of it." Garrus looked at Shepard, who had a distant look on her face as she watched the world fly by outside.

"Something on your mind, Shepard?" the scarred Turian asked. Shepard smiled at her old friend's concern.

"Just thinkin'," she said. "It's been over ten years since I've last been to Earth; it brings back memories." The rest of the crew remained silent throughout the rest of the journey, until EDI's voice emerged from the speaker.

"You will be reaching the designated coordinates in five minutes, Commander," the AI notified the crew.

"Thank you, EDI," Shepard said as she slipped on her helmet, sealing her suit from the cold. "Zip up, everybody; it's a bit nippy outside."

* * *

Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell sighed in boredom as he stood outside the McMurdo Air Force Base, waiting for whatever vessel Earth's latest guests were going to be arriving in. He was the leader of the F-302 squadron that had guarded SG-1 as they bored into the Antarctic ice to unearth the Ancient weapon. They had gone in expecting Goa'uld death gliders to defend against, but apparently Anubis was so fixated on shooting down the visitors' ship, that he had neglected to send anything down planetside, which made for a very boring patrol. While Mitchell did admit that standing out in the cold was rather low on his choices of career paths, he considered possible alternative scenarios and figured that he had no reason to complain, so he followed his orders like a good soldier.

"Colonel Mitchell," a voice rang in Mitchell's earpiece, "I see something northeast about two clicks out." Mitchell pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked at the mentioned direction, and saw a vessel approaching their position. It was white with black highlights, wedge-shaped, and had two thrusters on either end of it. Mitchell guessed that it was their guests, since it looked nothing like any other race's technology that they had seen so far.

"That looks like them; good eye, soldier," the Lieutenant Colonel said. "Pop a flare for them." A few seconds later, a bright red flare was launched over the McMurdo landing pad. While a thoughtful gesture, it was ultimately unnecessary as the shuttle's computer had already plotted out a course to the base.

One minute later, the vessel had arrived at McMurdo base and had gracefully touched down on the landing pad, its thrusters melting away the snow. The side of the craft lifted open, and a woman wearing faintly form-fitting gray armor stepped out, her face concealed by her helmet. A black man in bulky white armor stepped out next, followed by two women in what looked like full-length bright pink ski jackets; one of the women had a sour look on her face, and Mitchell could not blame her. What followed next was a rather odd menagerie of aliens that the soldier fought hard not to stare at, especially when the tall reptilian one growled at him.

"Welcome to McMurdo Air Force Base," Mitchell said to the woman in gray. "I'm assuming you're Commander Shepard?"

"I am," Shepard confirmed. "What do you say we get out of this cold?"

"I couldn't agree more, ma'am," Mitchell said, beckoning them to follow him. "Follow me, please; SG-1's waiting for you inside."

* * *

In a conference room within the base complex itself, said team was sitting at the table reviewing the report from the battle that had occurred above them. General Hammond was also with them, along with a small television set that was linked to a live feed to President Hayes, who had wanted to thank Commander Shepard himself.

SG-1 was particularly surprised by the level of power demonstrated by the _Normandy_. Even though it was at least half the size of the _Prometheus_, it still managed to destroy Goa'uld ship with frightening ease. Security footage from the _Prometheus_ had also shown that, with one possible exception, the crew was manned by humans. Finding humans outside of Earth was no surprise for SG-1 due to the fact that the Goa'uld had seeded the galaxy with human colonies to act as slaves. However, due to said slavery, finding any humans that had progressed further than medieval development, with the now-extinct Tollan being the only humans that they had encountered so far with the technology to rival or exceed the Goa'uld. When they factored in the name of the ship itself and the team was scratching their heads over the ship's nature.

"Maybe it's from the future," Doctor Daniel Jackson, the team's historical expert speculated. "It wouldn't be the first time we've messed around with time travel, and it would certainly explain the name, and why we don't recognize the technology. The question is, how far did they go back?"

"We can't rule out an alternate universe either," Colonel Samantha Carter, quantum physicist and current leader of SG-1 said. "Remember that mirror that you found on P3R-233, the one that transported people to alternate realities? Maybe they found a bigger version, or something with similar properties."

"It would be pointless to speculate further when we can soon ask them of their origins," said Teal'c, a jaffa and former First Prime of Apophis, the first major enemy that SG-1 had to compete with.

"I guess you're right," Sam said, flipping further through the file. "I would love to get a hand on their technology, though! If we could get something like that, it could turn the tide of the war against the Goa'uld!"

"_If_ they give it to us," Daniel countered. "Remember, we don't exactly have a stellar track record of having people just handing us over their advanced technology, no questions asked." Sam sighed in defeat, as she knew that Daniel was right.

"I know, it's just that I—" Whatever Sam was about to say was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," General Hammond said. The door opened to allow Colonel Mitchell entrance.

"Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, sir," Mitchell said as he raised his hand to his head in salute. General Hammond saluted back and Mitchell's arm fell to the side. "Shepard and her team have arrived and are waiting just outside, sir."

"Very well, let them in Colonel," General Hammond said. Mitchell did not immediately respond, instead scanning eyes across the room as if searching for something.

"Should be big enough," he muttered under his breath. Before anyone could ask what he meant, Mitchell left the room. A moment later, Shepard came in with eight other individuals, much to everyone's shock. Shepard and most of her crew removed their helmets and placed them on the table, and in two members' cases, shrugged off rather hideous-looking jackets to reveal themselves to the assembled SGC personnel.

While General Hammond was not particularly surprised about Shepard's features, having already met her, the SG-1 members could not help but stare at her lightly glowing scars, or her green eyes mixed with red. The black man next to her was handsome, if otherwise unremarkable. The first woman to shrug off her coat wore a black leather uniform that conformed to her rather curvaceous body and left absolutely nothing to the imagination. The second woman was also dressed in a black full-body suit, although hers had a hood on it as well. The second woman seemed Asian, but the hood obscured her features. Then their eyes drifted to the rest of the group, who were more exotic in form.

The first was a tall, barrel-chested figure in damaged blue armor. Its facial features were a strange mixture of reptilian and avian, and there was a large burn scar along one side of its face. Next to it was a smaller figure in yet another black, skintight suit, although she also wore a face mask with an opaque purple visor. The alien had a figure like a woman and, like the reptile/bird thing next to her had a hand with only three digits. Next was a towering hulk of a lizard with orange skin and a dull gray bony crest on its head. Its yellow eyes glared at SG-1 and it growled softly. Next was a small alien that vaguely reminded SG-1 of the Asgard with its frail build and large, black eyes. However, unlike the Asgard, this alien was orange, had an elongated head and two horns, one of which seemed to have been cut off. It had also been in an altercation, if the scars on its face were any indication. Finally, there was the most unusual figure of all: A robot with a gaping hole in its chest and what looked like a head made out of a flashlight.

"Hello, I'm Commander Shepard," Shepard finally said after SG-1 had finished gawking at her team. "I'm guessing that you're the famous SG-1 I've heard so much about."

"We are," Sam said, standing up. "I'm Colonel Samantha Carter. I just wanted to thank you for the assistance you gave yesterday."

"You're welcome," Shepard said. "You're one of the few people who've thanked me for my work," she observed.

"I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson," Daniel said. "Thanks for saving us back there. I hope you won't be leaving us too soon."

"I'm not sure, Doctor Jackson," Shepard said honestly. "Our technical problems might leave us stranded here for a while."

"What sort of technical problems?" Sam asked, intrigued. When Shepard did not answer, General Hammond spoke up.

"Commander Shepard, Colonel Carter has the highest security clearance in the world," he said. "And she is one of the top minds in quantum physics. I assure you, if anyone can solve your problem, she can."

"I'll think about it," Shepard said. Teal'c stood up and bowed his head.

"I am Teal'c," the dark jaffa said, "and I too wish to convey my gratitude for your assistance against Anubis."

"You're welcome, Teal'c," Shepard said, returning the bow. The man in the television cleared his throat, turning attention to him.

"Commander Shepard, I'm President Henry Hayes," he said. "I too wish to thank you for all that you have done for us. The people of this planet owe you a great debt that we can never repay."

"I think I'll find some way to cash it in," Shepard said. "Okay, my turn for introductions. This is my executive officer, Miranda Lawson," she said, gesturing to the busty woman in black.

"A pleasure to meet you," she said in a thick Australian accent.

"My armorer, Jacob Taylor," Shepard continued, pointing to the black man. He saluted SG-1, but said nothing. "Kasumi Goto, infiltration and retrieval specialist," she described the hooded woman.

"_Konichiwa_," Kasumi said, bowing.

"_Konichiwa_," Daniel replied, returning the bow.

"My gunnery officer, Garrus Vakarian," Shepard said, pointing to the alien in blue armor. It responded in a strange sound, like a cross between a growl and a trill. SG-1 was so used to hearing aliens speaking English that this alien speaking its native language took them by surprise. "My chief engineer, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy," Shepard continued with the alien in the mask.

"You can just call me Tali," she said in clear, if heavily accented English, further surprising SG-1.

"Wait, how come she can speak English but he can't?" Daniel asked, pointing to Garrus. Shepard frowned in confusion at his question, but realization slowly dawned on her face and she smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand.

"Damn, I forgot," she muttered. "Where I'm from, everybody has a translator that eliminates the need to learn each others' languages; I forgot that you don't have those. Sorry about that," she said.

"And I have a translator integrated into my helmet," Tali said, tapping the part of her mask where her mouth would be. "It's helpful if another person's translator malfunctions."

"That sounds like it'd be useful," Sam said, intrigued.

"Yeah, it is," Shepard agreed. "Back on track, though. Grunt, my close combat specialist," she said, pointing to the large reptilian figure. It let out a series of growls and barks, and Shepard scowled at it. "Grunt, behave," she admonished the towering being. Grunt made a low growl, but otherwise kept silent. Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Shepard pointed to the Asgard-like alien. "Professor Mordin Solus, biochemical engineer," she introduced. Mordin began to speak in short bursts of clicks and pops, while Shepard rolled her eyes again; apparently this was not the first time that this had happened. Ten seconds later, Shepard politely asked Mordin to be quiet, and he eventually did. "Finally, Legion, my cyber-warfare specialist," she concluded, gesturing to the Geth.

"Greetings," the robot stated in its mechanical monotone.

"Well, that's quite the diverse crew you have there, Commander," President Hayes said.

"Thank you, Mister President," Shepard said. "They are diverse, but they're the best at what they do, and I only hire the best."

"The best at what, exactly?" Sam asked, confused. Shepard gave a large, toothy grin that, when combined with her scars and eyes, made her seem ever so frightening.

"Whatever needs doing," she answered cryptically. For a moment, nobody spoke and the tension in the air could be cut with a knife. Finally, Shepard spoke again. "All right, I know what to do with my favor now," she said.

"And what's that?" President Hayes asked.

"I'm sure my crew can figure out how to fix our little problem eventually," Shepard said, "but if Colonel Carter is as good as General Hammond says she is, I won't turn down her help. In addition, I'm going to need a few things: Alloys, mostly, as well as certain kinds of food. Garrus and Tali have special diets that can't be met on Earth, so we need to harvest it off-world. Unless you've got a magic machine in a basement somewhere that can make something out of nothing," she continued, laughing at her own little joke.

"We don't," General Hammond said, "but we can put in some calls to see if we can't arrange something." Shepard stopped laughing when she saw the serious expressions on everyone's faces.

"You're serious," she said. When they nodded, she added, "Well, these are going to be some interesting times…."

* * *

And that's the end of chapter four. Sorry that it's mostly talking, but that's just how it goes sometimes. I hope that you enjoyed it anyway.

For those who don't remember, P3R-233 was the planet where the reality-hopping mirror was introduced in SG-1 episode 1.20 – _**There But for the Grace of God**_.

Edited 5/10/10 to clean up a section.


	5. Chapter 5

School is finally done! Yay!

I don't own Mass Effect or Stargate.

Many thanks to Dusel for his work as a beta. I really appreciate it, man.

After a brief moment of silence, Shepard composed herself into the neutral façade that she adopted during negotiations.

"First, we're going to have to establish some security protocols," she said as she sat down and linked her fingers together. "I think we should start by making it so that if anyone on the project needs to step aboard my ship, then they should remain until the project is complete."

"Why is that?" President Hayes asked, uncomfortable with some of his world's top minds potentially kept prisoner on board a spaceship.

"I'm sure that there are many shadowy organizations floating around on Earth," Shepard said. "We don't want them catching wind of our work. If one of them were to be captured, then things could possibly be disastrous: Not only would our work be delayed, but depending on what they knew, they could be privy to certain things that I'd rather not have revealed." The SGC members had to agree on that point; they had had problems with the NID's illegal operations in the past. "Also, no one is to have access to our weapons technology, personnel or ship-mounted," Shepard continued.

"But Shepard, surely you would want to protect Earth from whatever threats it may face," President Hayes said. "It _is_ your homeworld after all," he added. Shepard chuckled and gave a humorless smile, her eyes and scars giving her a sinister look.

"Cute, Mister President, appealing to my sense of patriotism," she said. "However, history has taught me that bad things tend to happen when lesser-evolved races are handed over technology beyond their means." Behind her, Grunt loosed a deep, rumbling growl from his throat while Mordin suddenly became fascinated by a speck on the table. "Tell you what, if I start seeing giant black squid ships flying around killing everything, then I'll consider it, but not a minute before." Those not of Shepard's crew looked at her in confusion, but she refused to elaborate.

"I suppose we don't have much of a choice," President Hayes finally admitted.

"Finally, we need to discuss lodging," Shepard said. "I'm guessing that your main base isn't in Antarctica and unless it's somewhere equally remote, I can't exactly have my shuttle ferrying people to and from my ship every day; someone's eventually going to notice."

"Yeah, I can think of one or two people who might notice," Sam said, thinking back to Julia Donovan, the reporter who had confronted her about the _Prometheus_ over a year ago.

"We can arrange something for your crew," General Hammond said. "We have a safe house that you and your human crew members can stay in; your alien crew however, will have to remain at our base. It presents too much of a security risk to have obvious aliens out in the open," he explained.

"True," Shepard agreed. "However, I would like to request that I remain at your base along with my non-human crew." When the SGC personnel and President Hayes expressed confusion, she continued. "If I leave them in your custody, then I run the risk of having them spirited away for whatever god-awful experiments you wish to run on them. Also, some of my crew can get a bit…rowdy when left unattended," she said, shooting a pointed look at Grunt. "At least if I'm there, I can keep an eye on them – and you."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Commander," President Hayes deadpanned.

"Confidence has nothing to do with it, Mister President," Shepard said. "I may have helped you, but I don't trust you as far as I can throw Grunt. I'm giving you a chance here, but if you double-cross me, well…" she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders. "…Things could get interesting, to say the least. So do we have a deal?" she asked. After several tense seconds of consideration, President Hayes nodded his head.

"We have a deal," he said.

One week had passed since Shepard and her ship had first appeared in Earth space. Colonel Samantha Carter was currently sitting in the SGC mess hall, thinking about their new guests. Through a complex series of edited plane manifestos and unmarked truck convoys they had managed to transport Shepard's crew to the Cheyenne Mountain complex. After a few days of adjusting to a new environment, the crew had eventually fallen into a routine, helping out whenever they could and generally staying out of people's way – with the exception of Grunt, who mostly just glared at people and ate more food than any one being rightfully should.

Sam had already established a working relationship with Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. With her brilliant mind despite her young age, and her excitement at the idea of learning new things, she reminded of Sam when she was younger. However their topics of conversation had quickly dried up since Shepard was unclear as to what technological subjects were considered off-limits for discussion. At the moment, the alien girl was speaking to Daniel about her species' culture, with the historian listening with rapt fascination. It brought a smile to Sam's face to see her friend so excited about something. While she certainly was not about to complain about the new Daniel, who had the skills and confidence to hold his own in a firefight, it was nice to see a glimpse of the wide-eyed archaeologist that she had met so many years before.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Walter's voice blaring over the complex's PA system.

"Unscheduled off-world activation," the technician said. Her lunch forgotten, Sam immediately made her way to the gate room with Daniel close behind her. When they arrived, the stargate had already activated and the trinium-alloy iris had been closed over the event horizon. In addition to the usual technicians manning their stations the room was also occupied by Doctor Elizabeth Weir, the new head of the SGC. While SG-1 could not help but feel a slight disdain for the woman for removing General Hammond from command, they knew that the blame belonged at the feet of former vice president Robert Kinsey; the woman was also civil enough to them, so the team decided to be civil towards her in return.

"Any I.D.C.?" Weir asked. Walter checked his computer, which beeped in affirmative.

"It's the Tok'ra, ma'am," the technician replied.

"Open the iris," Weir ordered. With a few keystrokes and after placing his hand on a palm scanner, Walter opened the segmented shield over the stargate to reveal the rippling blue event horizon. Seconds later, a single figure walked onto the ramp before the stargate deactivated. His head was almost entirely bald and he wore the typical tan clothes of the Tok'ra. Recognizing the man, Sam went down to the gate room and wrapped him in an embrace.

"It's good to see you, Sam," Jacob Carter said as he hugged his daughter.

"You too, Dad," Sam replied. After they released each other, Jacob greeted Daniel with a handshake. When he reached Weir, his smile was replaced with a look of unfamiliarity.

"I'm sorry, I don't know you," he said.

"That's okay, I'm new here," Weir said as she extended a hand, which Jacob shook. "Doctor Elizabeth Weir, head of the SGC." Jacob furrowed his brow in confusion at her announcement.

"Head of the SGC?" he echoed. "What happened to General Hammond?" he asked.

"General Hammond is currently on leave pending reassignment," Weir said. "So, what brings you to our corner of the galaxy?" she continued.

"Business, I'm afraid," Jacob sighed. "We've heard some concerning things in the past few days, and I've been tasked to investigate."

"What sort of things?" Sam asked her father.

"Well, ever since Anubis got his ass kicked last week – good work with that, by the way," Jacob said, "our spies have picked up two topics of conversation over Goa'uld chatter; one of them was the Tau'ri having a new superweapon that could wipe out Anubis' fleet. I'm assuming that that's the Ancient weapon you were looking for?" he asked. When everyone nodded, he continued. "The second was the Tau'ri having a new ship that managed to cut down three of Anbuis' ha'taks despite being only a third in size of one. _That_ is what has the High Council so concerned," he said. Clapping his hands together, he added in false cheer, "So anyone care to fill me in?" The three SGC personnel exchanged glances with each other before responding.

"It's kind of a long story, Dad," Sam said. "Maybe it would be better if you heard it from the ship's commander." As she was speaking, Weir activated her earpiece to contact Shepard's door guard.

Shepard and her crew sans Tali were currently in the SGC's gymnasium. Grunt was working out his boredom on a punching bag while Garrus lifted weights; Legion, not needing to exercise, was standing motionless in the corner. Shepard herself was sitting on a bench, reading a data pad. On the pad was an updated summary of the Goa'uld that was forwarded to the _Normandy_ and then to Shepard herself. It contained a listing of all known Goa'uld still alive, along with a summary of their technology; the personal shields and healing technology were particularly interesting. Reading the description of the sarcophagus brought back unpleasant memories of waking up on a hospital bed in the middle of a besieged space station after spending two years of being reassembled from a broken and charred corpse. It also contained some miscellaneous information, including that of a Goa'uld splinter faction that the SGC had allied with called the Tok'ra.

"Unscheduled off-world activation," a voice said over the PA system. Since neither Shepard nor her crew understood what the announcement meant, they did not concern themselves with it. A few minutes later, one of the guards posted outside entered the gym.

"Commander Shepard, your presence has been requested," the guard said as he stood by the door. "I have been ordered to escort you to the debriefing room." With a sigh, Shepard set the data pad down and stood up.

"Sure, just give me a second," she said. After checking to make sure that all her weapons were in their proper place, she turned to her crew. "Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone," she warned before turning to the guard and noting that she was ready.

"Please follow me, ma'am," the guard said as he walked towards the briefing room. When they arrived, Shepard was greeted by Weir, Sam, Daniel and an older man in a tan, patched suit.

"You wished to see me?" Shepard asked, her hands crossed behind her back.

"Yes, thank you for showing up, Shepard," Weir said as she pointed to the stranger. "This is Jacob Carter, envoy of the Tok'ra," she introduced. "Jacob, this is Commander Shepard, captain of the _SSV Normandy_, the ship that you heard about."

"Carter?" Shepard said, flicking her gaze between Jacob and Sam. "Any relation…?" she trailed off.

"My father," Sam said.

"Ahh," Shepard responded. "I'm sure that there's an interesting story behind that, but I'm guessing that's not why called me down here, is it?"

"No it's not," Jacob said with a sigh as he sat down. "The Tok'ra have heard of your exploits, Commander, and are frankly a bit concerned."

"Concerned, how?" Shepard asked, laying her hands on the back of a chair.

"For one, we'd like to know how you got such advanced technology, especially without the Goa'uld noticing," Jacob said. "The only human race with the potential for such technology would be the Tollan, and well…" he trailed off, and Sam suddenly had an air of sadness about her. "Let's just say that we know you're not Tollan."

"Where I'm from and where I got my technology from is classified," Shepard said neutrally. Jacob nodded in understanding; he had been on both ends of the "classified" excuse before.

"We're also worried that you may share your advanced technology with Earth," Jacob continued. "Some of us – including myself – believe that this planet's technology level is advancing a bit too quickly, and think that they should slow down a bit." This statement earned Jacob a glare from his daughter.

"Rest assured, sir, we won't be exchanging technology except under the direst of circumstances," Shepard said. "The people I represent have strict laws regarding the sharing of technology with lesser-evolved races. Even though I am no longer in their space, I intend to honor their laws." Jacob nodded in satisfaction.

"Good, good," he said. For a few seconds, Jacob suddenly began staring off into space before returning his attention to Shepard. "Selmak would like to speak to you," he said. Shepard frowned in confusion at Jacob's seemingly random announcement.

"Umm…okay?" she said uncertainly. Jacob bowed his head, bringing it back up after several seconds.

"Greetings, Commander Shepard," Jacob said in a guttural voice, "I am Selmak of the Tok'ra." Shepard narrowed her eyes and her right arm laid against her side, hand on her pistol. This move did not go unnoticed by the security personnel, whose fingers inched ever closer to their weapons' triggers.

"What just happened?" Shepard asked in suspicion.

"Do not be alarmed, Shepard," Selmak said placatingly. "I am the Tok'ra symbiote that shares this body with Jacob Carter; we are two minds inhabiting one form."

"You'll have to forgive me," Shepard said, still not entirely trusting Selmak, "but the last time I came across somebody speaking with a voice that didn't belong to them, bad things happened." The Tok'ra's flanged voice brought back unpleasant memories for Shepard; memories of her battles against the Collectors and how at least one would inevitably undergo a twisted metamorphosis, always uttering the same three words: "_**Assuming direct control**_."

"I assure you Shepard, I am not your enemy," Selmak assured Shepard. "I simply wished to speak personally to the person who managed to do so much damage to Anubis' fleet."

"Eh, it was nothing," Shepard said, shrugging her shoulders. Selmak chuckled at her modest statement.

"With a ship only one third their size, you managed to single-handedly destroy three ha'tak vessels belonging to the most powerful individual in the galaxy, along with an unknown number of death gliders," Selmak said. "If that is what you call 'nothing,' then I sincerely wish that we never face the enemies that you do."

"Yeah, me neither," Shepard said, a dark look passing over her face. Selmak bowed his head, and Jacob was returned control over his body.

"Well, I better report to the High Council," he said. "It's been nice meeting you, Commander Shepard," he said, bowing slightly at the woman.

"And you as well, Mister Carter," Shepard said, returning the bow. Standing up, Jacob headed towards the gate room, Sam escorting him out.

"Well, that didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped," Jacob said as the two walked down towards the stargate. "I can't even tell the High Council how Commander Shepard got here to begin with."

"Tell them that it was a hyperdrive malfunction," Sam suggested. "Technically, it's the truth."

"'Technically,' huh?" Jacob said with a chuckle. "I'm guessing that there's more to it than that."

"I can neither confirm nor deny that," Sam said as they entered the gate room. Looking up at Walter, Sam nodded at him and he began the dialing sequence.

"Chevron one encoded," he said as the first symbol in the combination was locked in. With the sound of metal scraping against metal, the chevrons within the stargate spun around to the next symbol in the combination. "Chevron two encoded…."

"It was good seeing you again, Sam," Jacob said as he hugged his daughter.

"It was nice seeing you too, Dad," she said as she returned the embrace. "You know, you don't have to wait for us to avert an enemy invasion just to come visit me."

"Ehh," Jacob grunted, shrugging.

"Chevron seven, locked," Walter announced. A brief alarm sounded from the stargate before it activated, shooting forth a vortex of energy before receding into a stable event horizon. Saying his final goodbyes, Jacob stepped up the ramp and into the event horizon, which disappeared moments later, leaving Sam alone in the room.

On a desert planet billions of miles away from Earth a stargate burst to life and expelling Jacob Carter before deactivating again. Walking down the steps of the platform that the stargate was mounted on Jacob walked out into the desert with no apparent goal. After roughly ten minutes of walking he stopped and pressed a device on his wrist. Several metal rings suddenly burst from the ground around him and engulfed him in a blast of light, disintegrating his body before returning beneath the sand. In an underground tunnel the rings stacked up on each other and made another flash of light, reconstituting Jacob Carter's form before the rings vanished again. Working his way through the labyrinthine tunnels of the Tok'ra base Jacob eventually found the room where the members of the Tok'ra High Council were convening.

"Selmak, what news do you bring from the Tau'ri?" asked Garshaw, the head of the Tok'ra High Council. Jacob bowed his head momentarily to relinquish control to his symbiote before responding.

"Garshaw, while its commander appears human, the vessel that destroyed Anubis' ships was not of Tau'ri make," Selmak reported. "I was not told which region of space they hail from; apparently there was a malfunction in the ship's hyperdrive, stranding it in Tau'ri space."

"I see," Garshaw said, pondering this new information. "And do you know whether these strangers will be sharing their technology with the Tau'ri?" she asked.

"For the moment, no," Selmak said. "The ship's commander stated that they would only exchange technology with the Tau'ri under 'the direst of circumstances,' although she did not elaborate." Selmak frowned in confusion. "If I may be so bold, why are we concerning ourselves with the affairs of the Tau'ri?" he asked. "Is it not better for them to become independent of us?"

"It is," Garshaw agreed. "However, they are young, and are tampering with things far older than them. If they grow too quickly, then they may find themselves overwhelmed by their brashness. They need a guiding hand in this galaxy. Need I remind you, Selmak, that both you and your host share this sentiment?" Selmak gave a weary sigh.

"No," he said.

"Good," Garshaw replied. "And as for these strangers, we must continue to observe them. They are powerful; we must make sure that that power does not turn on us."

"I doubt that they would appreciate our spying on them, Garshaw," Selmak said.

"Your concerns are noted," Garshaw said. "You may leave now." Bowing his head in respect, Selmak turned to leave. After he exited the chamber and rounded the corner, Selmak lowered his head to return control of the body to its rightful owner.

_I don't like this_, Jacob thought to his symbiote companion. _It's one thing to keep an eye on Earth to make sure that they don't bite off more than they can chew, but why spy on Shepard?_

_**I cannot say for certain**_, Selmak replied in Jacob's mind. _**The High Council is most likely scared of Shepard and the power that she wields**_.

_I don't blame 'em_, Jacob thought. _I guess we just got to hope that "observing" is all they'll do, not that we have the manpower or resources to do much else_.

_**Indeed**_, Selmak replied. _**However, our influence among the High Council grows weaker by the day, and I fear that one day, our words will be ignored entirely. After that, who knows what action the High Council may take?**_ Jacob sighed and leaned against a nearby wall, suddenly tired.

"Who knows?" he softly echoed aloud as the Tok'ra milled about in front of him, uncaring of his state.

Don't forget to leave a review!


	6. Chapter 6

I own neither Stargate nor Mass Effect.

Thanks to Dusel for doing the beta work.

* * *

"With all due respect ma'am, it's been over a week now," Sam said to Weir, trying not to raise her voice. The two women were in the Base Commander's office, each trying to get her point across to the other. "How long are we going to wait before we try and help him?" Weir sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was finding it harder and harder to deny the Colonel with each conversation they had.

"I understand your frustration," she said patiently, trying to soothe both herself and her guest. "But the fact is that Colonel O'Neill is not our highest priority at the moment. As long as he remains in the stasis field he will not be affected by the Ancient knowledge downloaded into his brain. Right now, I need you to worry about Commander Shepard's problem." Whatever response Sam may have had was interrupted by Weir's desk phone ringing.

"Weir," the brunette woman said when she picked up the phone. "Very well, send him up." Hanging up, she looked at Sam. "Mister Woolsey will be joining us shortly. Apparently the NID has caught wind of our guests and wants to talk to them."

"Lovely," Sam deadpanned; Woolsey's antagonistic actions several months before had not endeared the man to SG-1's members. The words that he had used to ask her questions and the indifferent way he had asked them still made her temper flare a little every time she thought about it.

"Indeed," Weir said as she made to exit her office. As she reached the doorway she turned back to Sam. "Don't worry, this discussion is not over," she promised.

"Yes ma'am," Sam replied. She may not have gotten to her new commander but at least the woman was willing to listen. Knowing Kinsey she was half expecting him to assign someone with a flagpole stuck up their behind and an ego bigger than the mountain. This, she admitted, was definitely better.

* * *

Outside the Cheyenne Mountain complex that housed the SGC, a small black car bearing government plates pulled up to the gate. The gate guard stepped out of his shack and walked up to the driver's side window which had been lowered to reveal a balding man wearing thick square glasses and a dark business suit.

"Can I help you, sir?" the guard asked the driver.

"Yes," the man replied. "I'm Richard Woolsey from the NID. If you could tell Doctor Weir that I'm here, that'd be great." The guard looked at him with professional skepticism.

"I'm going to need to see some identification to confirm that, sir," the guard said.

"Of course," Woolsey replied. He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a folded leather badge. The guard took the badge and went back into his station. Woolsey idly drummed his fingers on the edge of his steering wheel while the guard performed whatever actions he needed to do to confirm Woolsey's identity. After a few minutes, including a short phone call, the guard returned the badge.

"You're clear to go, sir. Sorry for the inconvenience," the guard said.

"No problem," Woolsey slid the badge back into its respective pocket and put the car back into gear just as the gate lifted open and he pulled through. After being directed to the motor pool where he could park his vehicle, Woolsey was escorted to the elevator that would take him to the deeper levels of the complex where he needed to go. He clearly remembered all his visits to the base, the one on orders from Kinsey to find evidence to discredit Hammond's command in a legitimate way, and the second that was his own choice so in his mind he could do the right thing, for both his conscience and his country and present evidence of Kinsey's corruption. When he was led to the SGC's debriefing room he saw the familiar form of Samantha Carter of SG-1, along with a brunette woman that he only recognized from photographs. Woolsey decided to turn his attention to the brunette first.

"Doctor Weir," he began. "I don't believe we've met yet. I'm Richard Woolsey, I represent the NID," he continued, extending his hand in greeting.

"I've heard about you, Mister Woolsey," Weir said, shaking the offered hand. Releasing the handshake Woolsey turned to Sam.

"Colonel Carter, congratulations on the promotion," he said.

"Thank you," Sam replied neutrally, not letting her dislike for the man show; it would not be professional, she argued with herself.

"What brings you down here, Mister Woolsey? I know that you have orders from higher up but we did not receive any details," Weir asked. Woolsey cleared his throat and straightened his suit before answering.

"The NID has heard that you're currently harboring some…guests," he said. "I'm here to make sure that they're not a security risk." His statement caused both women to raise an eyebrow at him.

"And how exactly do you intend to do that, Mister Woolsey?" Weir asked. Of course she knew how, by questioning them but she did not want to antagonize her guests on the off-chance that Woolsey blurts something that might upset or anger them.

"I will be conducting interviews with the alien visitors," Woolsey explained. "If they are deemed a threat to national security, then the NID will take them into custody."

"You do realize that we owe these aliens our lives, right?" Weir asked. "I don't think they'll be too happy if we repaid them by locking them up like criminals." Woolsey did know, but did not voice his thoughts. There were, however orders he had to fulfill and he was a man that followed his orders to the letter.

"Your concern is appreciated, Doctor," he said instead. "However, there are protocols that must be followed." Weir sighed and silently hoped that the man would not be too provocative as she activated her earpiece.

"Commander Shepard, please report to the debriefing room," she announced. Several minutes later, a redheaded woman came in wearing dull gray, form-fitting armor.

"You called?" she asked in a bored tone, most likely due to not having anything to do for the past several days.

"Yes," Weir said. "Mister Woolsey, this is Shepard, commander of the ship that helped fend off the Goa'uld. Commander Shepard, this is Richard Woolsey."

"Pleasure," Shepard said as she shook Woolsey's hand.

"Likewise," he responded, trying not to wince at her surprisingly strong grip. "I represent the National Intelligence Department, a civilian branch of the United States government created to monitor extraterrestrial activity. I would like to speak to you and your crew to determine whether you pose a security risk."

"And if we do?" Shepard asked. There was no challenge in her voice, simply curiosity. It was obvious she did not feel threatened; whether it was an attempt at mind games or because she and her crew were skilled enough to deal with whatever the NID could send their way, the three other occupants did not know.

"Then you and your crew will be detained and held at a secure holding facility. I understand that your ship is currently undergoing repairs; if you are deemed not a threat at that time, you will be free to leave." Shepard stared at Woolsey while she pondered her position. Woolsey fought the urge to fidget in place while Shepard stared at him. Even though he stood at least two inches taller than her there was something about her that made him feel very small in comparison. Perhaps it was the confident, authoritative way that she held herself, or maybe it was her glowing facial scars and piercing green eyes with their unnatural crimson tinge that seemed to stare into his soul. Either way, he was relieved when Shepard finally gave her answer.

"Alright," she said. "However, I'm going to have to insist that I be present during all interviews."

"That won't be necessary, Commander," Woolsey said.

"I disagree," Shepard retorted. "Most of my crew does not speak English, so you'll need me as a translator. Also, some of my crew can be rather…rowdy when provoked and I don't think we need an incident where my crew's hauled off because you accidentally insulted one of them and they attacked. Please understand that it's for your own protection." Woolsey had to admit that he did not like the idea of being attacked, especially by aliens, so he nodded his head in acceptance.

"I'll arrange to have someone pick up your human crew members from the safe house," Weir told Shepard.

"Thanks," she replied. Clapping her hands together, she added, "So, when do we start?"

* * *

Woolsey had decided to begin his interviews with Shepard herself. He began to set up his station in one of the containment rooms, the only place that allowed the silence and privacy necessary for his work. He set up his small digital recorder and pulled out several relevant papers from his briefcase. Switching on the recorder, Woolsey cleared his throat and began.

"Operative Richard Woolsey conducting interview zero-one on March thirty two-thousand four at thirteen-twelve hours local time. Please state your name for the record, ma'am," he said to Shepard.

"Commander Jane Shepard," she said, her voice betraying no emotion.

"How did you end up in our solar system?" Woolsey asked.

"There was a malfunction in our FTL drive," Shepard answered It was not a total lie, just not the whole truth. Woolsey made a note on his papers.

"Where were you from?" Woolsey asked. Shepard furrowed her brow in confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Where were you before you arrived in our solar system," Woolsey elaborated.

"Oh," Shepard said, now understanding. "Before I arrived here I had business on the planet Therum. Its location and the nature of that business are both classified." Another notation was made.

"Have you or anyone on your crew ever been in the past or present affiliated with the Goa'uld or their allies?" he asked.

"No," she replied. Another notation was made.

* * *

"Please state your name and race for the record," Woolsey said to the scaly alien before him. When it, for he did not know whether it was a male or female, had first come in he had the urge to cringe at the sight of the burn scar that covered much of one side of the alien's face. A series of soft growls and purrs came from the alien's mouth.

"My name is Garrus Vakarian, and I am a turian," Shepard translated.

"How is it that you're able to understand me, but can't speak English back?" Woolsey asked. Garrus replied in his alien tongue and Shepard once again translated.

"All races in our area of space have implanted translators to eliminate language barriers," she translated again. "However, since you do not have such an implant you cannot understand me."

"Interesting," Woolsey muttered to himself as he made more notes. "So what is your role on your ship, your duty station?" he asked. Garrus responded in the turian language.

"I repair and maintain the ship's weapons and ground vehicles, so they can be in full combat redness at any time," Shepard translated. More notes were jotted down.

"How did you get…?" Woolsey trailed off, pointing to the scar on Garrus' face. The mandibles on the turian's face flapped outwards slightly as he replied, whatever he said causing Shepard to grin amusedly. "What did he say?" Woolsey asked in confusion.

"He said, 'I tried to catch a missile with my teeth,'" she translated. Woolsey blinked a few times while he processed that tidbit before quietly making a note calling the turian's sanity into question. Neither of the other two occupants knew that of course and he additionally wrote down that it may have been a joke.

* * *

Woolsey looked at the hooded Asian woman before him. Unlike those that he interviewed before her, who held themselves like professionals, this woman was relaxed and propping her feet up on the table as if she lived there.

"Your name for the record, please," he asked after he moved the recorder so that the woman's foot was not blocking the recorder's microphone. The woman spoke in Japanese and flashed a proud smile. Shepard seemed displeased at whatever her subordinate had said.

"Kasumi Goto," she said, flashing a glare at the Japanese woman. Woolsey raised his eyebrows slightly in confusion; Kasumi had said a lot more than just her name. _I'll have to get this to an interpreter when I'm done_, he thought to himself. Woolsey flipped through the file in his hand and scanned over what little information he had on the Kasumi.

"It says here that your role is an 'information and retrieval specialist,'" he stated, reading the passage from the file. "Could you please explain what that means?" Kasumi spoke her reply in Japanese while Shepard translated.

"I sneak behind enemy lines and obtain sensitive items or information via hacking or burglary," she said.

"So you're a thief?" Woolsey asked. Kasumi gave a shrug in response. Woolsey made a mental note to check all of his pockets for belongings when this interview was over.

* * *

Woolsey fought the urge to gulp in fear when he saw the alien sitting across from him. It was an orange lizard-like humanoid that towered over him. Glaring at him with its large reptilian eyes, it rapped its claws impatiently against the table.

"Please state your name and race for the record," Woolsey said, fighting to regain his composure. A series of harsh barks and growls was the alien's response.

"I am Urdnot Grunt of the krogan," Shepard translated. Grunt let out another series of growls that caused Shepard to snap her head at the alien. "Excuse me?" she exclaimed, reaching out and turning off the recorder. Woolsey was about to protest when Grunt repeated whatever he had just said and Shepard's look of shock turned into a scowl. "No, you may not do that. I don't care how bored you are!" Grunt stood up out of his chair, towering over Shepard by over a foot, yet the woman stood her ground. When Grunt spoke again she replied, "Grunt, I am your Battlemaster. You _will_ obey my orders."

Woolsey found himself witness to an argument between the commander and her subordinate; the dynamic seemed to be that of a mother scolding a rebellious child, a rebellious child that looked like a giant lizard-man. Once the argument had been settled and Woolsey was allowed to continue his questioning, part of him wondered how such a dynamic came to be.

The rest of him felt that it would probably be best if he did not know.

* * *

After nearly four hours of interviews Woolsey found himself facing the strangest member of Shepard's crew yet: A robot by the name of Legion. Trying not to stare at the curved head that ended with a single camera-like lens or the gaping hole in its chest, the NID agent cleared his throat and began the interview.

"Please state your name for the record," he said.

"We are geth," Legion said in its typical monotone. Woolsey frowned in confusion while Shepard smirked in amusement.

"I'm sorry?" he said as he checked his files to make sure that he did not make a mistake. "It says here that your name is Legion."

"That is correct," Legion droned. The response only confused the man more.

"So which is it, Geth or Legion?" Woolsey asked.

"Both," Legion said. Shepard chuckled while Woolsey resisted the urge to cradle his head in his hands.

"I don't understand," he said honestly.

"We are geth," Legion explained. "The identifier 'Legion' was bestowed to this platform by Shepard-Commander in an attempt to bestow an individual identity to us." Woolsey blinked as he tried to wrap his head around the information.

"So, geth is your species' name?" he asked.

"Correct," Legion confirmed. Woolsey made a note in his file.

"You referred to yourself as 'we' and 'us', care to explain that?" he asked.

"There are currently one thousand, eight hundred eighty-three runtimes inhabiting this platform operating in tandem to create the output result labeled 'Legion,'" the robot said. "Geth do not have individualism as organics understand it," it continued in an attempt to alleviate Woolsey's confusion. Any further questions were cut off when Weir's voice came from the room's PA system.

"Commander Shepard, report to the gate control room ASAP," the female voice ordered urgently. Shepard sighed and stood up.

"I'm sorry, Mister Woolsey, but it seems that I am required elsewhere," she said. "Come Legion, let's see what they need me so badly for," she added to the robot.

"Acknowledged, Shepard-Commander," Legion replied as it stood up and loyally followed Shepard, leaving Woolsey alone. With a sigh of defeat, he turned off his recorder and began to pack up. It was certainly the most awkward questioning he had to conduct in his entire career, but at least it was one of the smoothest; definitely smoother then his last interview run in the SGC where he had to practically fish the words out of his interviewees' mouths. He certainly hoped that both the NID and the President, who would also get a copy be pleased with his work. He did not wish to have to re-interview the crew of the _Normandy_ again unless it was absolutely necessary.

* * *

Shepard, followed by Legion eventually made her way up to the gate control room to find SG-1 and Weir gathered around a video monitor.

"I'm here," she announced. "So, what did you need me up here so badly for?" she asked.

"Watch this," Weir said, beckoning Shepard over. Daniel stepped out of the way so Shepard could squeeze her way into the tight group and watched the video play. It began with a shot of a forest. Almost immediately, several beings wandered into the frame. Some of them were turians like Garrus; other seemed like bald, brown, wrinkly humans with four eyes and one was a brown-skinned human.

"Shepard-Commander, these beings are wearing armor and markings consistent with the Blue Sun mercenary faction," Legion stated, causing the others present to look at him.

"Yes, I can see that, thank you Legion," Shepard said impatiently in a deadpan. The human got down to his knees and leaned towards the camera, giving a good picture of his face, which made Shepard scowl in recognition. The man spoke and drew a pistol before firing at the camera, terminating the video feed.

"We received this approximately ten minutes ago," Weir informed Shepard. "Considering that they were wearing similar armor as you and had aliens like one of your crew members, I was wondering if you recognized them."

"Yeah, I recognize them," Shepard said. "The human is Vido Santiago, the leader of a group of mercenaries known as the Blue Suns. He's from my universe."

* * *

There will be action in the next chapter, I promise.

Don't forget to review.


	7. Chapter 7

I own neither Mass Effect nor the Stargate series.

Thanks to Dusel for the beta work.

* * *

While Commander Shepard and her crew were being interviewed by Woolsey, a position that the members of SG-1 did not envy, the premier team of the SGC was preparing to step through the gate.

Earlier that day, the _Prometheus_ had sent a subspace message to the Asgard to see if they could remove the knowledge from the Ancient database from Colonel O'Neill's brain like they had before, but received no response yet. Of the three spaceworthy vessels that the SGC had on hand, one of them was incapable of making the journey into Asgard space and two were damaged. Even if it were fully intact the _Prometheus_ would need to remain in orbit around Earth to defend against any alien threats, which left the Goa'uld shuttle that SG-1 had arrived in.

Under ordinary circumstances Sam would have been in charge of its repairs and it may have been finished by now. However with her efforts focused on the Normandy those responsibilities fell to Doctor Lee and his team; while undeniably bright, no one person in that group could match Sam in sheer knowledge or expertise. In addition Doctor Lee could be a bit scatterbrained at times, which further delayed things. So with no other way to get in contact with their distant allies there was nothing that the SGC could do except go about business as usual until they received a response.

"Chevron one encoded," Walter announced as he entered the commands into the computer before him, the sound of metal grinding against metal echoing throughout the gate room as the stargate spun within itself. "Chevron two encoded…."

"So, what do you think will PXJ-529 will be like?" Daniel asked, making small talk while the stargate continued to spin.

"Well," Sam said, pondering the possibilities, "considering that the Ancients would logically seed habitable worlds with stargates, and the Goa'uld would most likely move them to places where they and their slaves could survive, I'd guess that it'd be like what we normally see." _"Normal"_ in this context meant an evergreen forest of moderate temperature and humidity with a small village of humans nearby, most likely former Goa'uld slaves.

"Chevron seven locked," Walter announced. A warning alarm briefly blared twice before the stargate activated, throwing unstable energy forward before becoming a stable event horizon. A MALP drone slowly rolled its way up the ramp and into the event horizon.

"MALP is away," Walter said. "We should be receiving video right about…now." True to his word the screen that displayed what the drone's camera saw blinked to life, showing a forest. This did not surprise the members of SG-1 in the least. What appeared in the image a few seconds later, however, did.

Several beings wandered into the MALP's field of vision. Some looked like humans, except their faces were brown and wrinkly and they sported an extra pair of black eyes and six more pairs of nostrils. Others seemed to be the same species as Shepard's crew member Garrus Vakarian. All of them were dressed in armor colored blue and white as well as carrying weapons of various kinds. The image was suddenly filled by the face of a human. He had dark skin and sported a military haircut along with stubble on his face. The aliens were chattering amongst themselves too far away from the MALP to get a decent feed from them, but the external translators that Shepard had given them the day before allowed Weir and SG-1 to catch bits of what they were saying.

"Hey boss, what's that thing over there?" One of the aliens asked, prompting the human to turn away from the camera.

"How the hell should I know?" he shouted angrily as he stood up. "I don't even know how we even came to arrive on this mud ball!" He whipped out a pistol and fired at the MALP, terminating the feed. Weir waved her hand in a slicing motion at her neck; Walter nodded and disabled the stargate. Finding the nearest microphone, she pressed the button to activate it and bent down to speak into the device.

"Commander Shepard, report to the gate room ASAP." she announced. Several minutes later the redheaded commander finally appeared, followed by Legion.

"I'm here," she declared as she entered, she was wearing work-out clothes – a shirt, slacks and sneakers. "So, what did you need me up here so badly for?" she asked with a light frown.

"Watch this," Weir said, gesturing to the screen. Shepard made her way over to the computer and watched the video.

"Shepard-Commander, these beings are wearing armor and markings consistent with the Blue Sun mercenary faction," Legion stated, causing the others present to turn their heads towards him.

"Yes, I can see that, thank you Legion," Shepard said with sarcasm.

"We received this approximately ten minutes ago," spoke Weir once again. "Considering that they were wearing similar armor as you and had aliens like one of your crew members, I was wondering if you recognized them."

"Yeah, I recognize them," Shepard said. "The human is Vido Santiago, the leader of a group of mercenaries known as the Blue Suns. He's from my universe." Neither Weir nor SG-1 found this revelation particularly surprising; they were however wondering how they managed to arrive in this universe; Shepard silently pondered the full ramifications of the situation.

"Are they dangerous?" the SGC leader asked.

"In the grand scheme of things, not likely," Shepard said with a shrug. "However, they're smart and well armed, so they could probably ruin someone's day if they're not dealt with soon."

"I see," Weir said. "Prep your team, Shepard. I want you to coordinate with SG-1 to subdue these mercenaries and see what information you can get out of them. Maybe they can shed some light onto your situation."

"One can hope," Shepard said flatly. As she turned to leave, she held her finger to her ear and spoke to Garrus.

"Well, I guess you'll be seeing how well Shepard and her crew fare on the battlefield soon," Weir said.

"Indeed," Teal'c said, speaking for the first time during the entire ordeal.

"We should probably wait a while before stepping in," Sam suggested. "With all those people gathered around the gate, trying to take them down now would be suicide."

"I agree," Weir said. "We'll wait three hours, then you'll move. Hopefully by then, there won't be so many people waiting to greet you."

Three hours seemed to pass by like an eternity for SG-1 along with the Commander who had summoned Garrus to her side along with Legion, each equipped with their favored weapons. Garrus had a collapsed assault rifle attached to his back while he calibrated his M92-Mantis, a single-shot sniper rifle which had been modified for increased damage and armor piercing capabilities. Shepard wielded the weaker but more forgiving M-97 Viper sniper rifle. To her left, Legion held the monstrous M-98 Widow anti-materiel rifle, a weapon that seemed more a miniature cannon than a gun, which was exactly what the Widow was, in a way. Shepard did not believe that SG-1's P90 submachine guns would be powerful enough to take down the mercenaries' shields quickly, so she agreed to temporarily loan them some of her weapons, along with a crash course on loading and ejecting heat sinks; to that end, the three soldiers now wielded M-12 Locust submachine guns that had been modified for optimum shield penetration as well as some modular shield generators for protection. They also wore night vision goggles on their heads in case it was nighttime on the planet that they were about to visit.

"Remember, these guys are most likely wearing shields, so it might take more shots than you think to take them down," Shepard warned her hosts. "Still, with the mods you have on your weapons, I don't think it'll be too big a problem."

"Got it," Sam said as the stargate spun to life. "Since you know more about these guys than we do, you'll be taking point," she said.

"Understood," the redheaded commander said as she turned to the stargate. The two-toned alarm blared followed by the stargate throwing forth its vortex of unstable energy, causing Garrus and Shepard to flinch in surprise; being a robotic construct, Legion did not demonstrate such displays of emotion, only flapping several of his head plates as it analyzed the unfamiliar sight before it. Sam and Daniel smiled slightly; it was always amusing to see people's reactions when they saw the stargate activate for the first time. Shaking herself out of her reverie, Shepard held her weapon at the ready and motioned for those behind her to move up. She walked up to the event horizon and after a moment's hesitation, stepped through the portal. She felt her body go cold as she saw streams of light streaking by. A flash of light filled her vision, and Shepard found herself standing on another world, her subordinates stepping out of the gate behind her; when the last person stepped through, the stargate deactivated with a whooshing sound. The sun could barely be seen over the treetops, coloring the sky a deep orange.

"Split up in teams of two," Shepard ordered. "Legion, you go with Teal'c. Garrus, go with Doctor Jackson. We'll make a perimeter three kilometers around the gate. Maintain radio silence until one of us finds the target, then we'll rendezvous on their position. Move out," she finished, and the three teams went their separate ways.

Within the hour, the sun had set completely, engulfing the landscape in darkness and forcing Shepard and Carter to switch to night vision. Careful steps were taken as they stalked through the woods, always being alert for patrols or traps; the commander's sniper rifle would eliminate any distant threats while the colonel's SMG provided close-range protection. Carter briefly admired how the commander seemed to be so light of foot despite being loaded with several seemingly quite heavy weapons.

Spotting a light through the trees ahead, Shepard held up her hand to halt her companion. Peering at the light through the scope of her sniper rifle, the commander zoomed in to see several figures dressed in blue armor sitting around a campfire. Switching the vision to infrared, she saw one nearby figure patrolling the perimeter of the camp with another, more faint silhouette marking the presence of a second guard.

"Garrus, Legion, I have found the target," Shepard whispered into her radio. "They have set up camp approximately twenty meters west of my position. I count at least three patrols," she continued.

"_Understood, Shepard_," Garrus replied in a whisper. "_We'll link up with you ASAP_."

"_Acknowledged, Shepard-Commander_," Legion chimed in. As the two women waited, Shepard kept her rifle aimed at the camp while Carter kept vigilant for any enemies that may try to sneak up on them. Several minutes passed before their radios crackled to life.

"_Sam, it's us, we're coming up to you,_" Daniel's voice whispered over the radio A few seconds later, the two other teams emerged from the foliage.

"What's the plan, Shepard?" Garrus asked, his claws gripping his sniper rifle.

"You and Legion take out the two patrols," Shepard ordered, stowing away her sniper rifle in favor for her Revenant machine gun. "After that, we'll try to subdue the rest non-lethally. Garrus, you take out the one on the left, Legion take out the one on the right," she continued.

"You got it," the turian said as he flicked the switch to activate the Disruptor ammunition modifier. He peered down his scope to find his designated target. He slowly followed his quarry until the batarian stopped to massage away the stiffness in his neck. "On three," Garrus whispered to his synthetic partner. "One…two…three!" The crack of his sniper rifle was covered by the thunderous blast of Legion's rifle. Garrus' electromagnetically-charged shot disrupted the Blue Sun guard's shields enough for the granular round to penetrate his skull, the kinetic energy liquefying the four-eyed humanoid's brains.

Being designed to penetrate the heavy shields and thick armor of tanks and other armored vehicles, Legion's shot simply overwhelmed the second guard's shields through sheer power and obliterated his head entirely, beheading him faster then the blink of an eye.

While the rest of the mercenaries were stumbling over themselves trying to grab their weapons to defend from the unexpected assault, Sam flung a flashbang grenade into the group, stunning them with a flash of light and noise. Their quarry temporarily distracted, the team of six quickly rushed in and subdued them before they could regain their senses. A few minutes later, eight mercenaries were leaning against a log, stripped of all their weapons and omni-tools, their hands cuffed behind their backs.

"Hello, Vido," Shepard greeted in a sing-song tone as she sat down next to the sole human mercenary. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" The brown-skinned man, still dazed from the flashbang, took a moment to recognize who had addressed him, and turned quite pale when he saw just who he was with.

"Sh-Shepard," he said with a nervous laugh. "What a coincidence meeting you here. Zaeed isn't with you, is he?" he asked, fear lacing his voice.

"Nah, we split up a few months ago," Shepard said, casually waving her hand around. "The real question is, what are _you_ doing here?" As Vido stammered for an answer, he looked around to see the rest of his captors; he saw three humans wearing armor – no uniforms, possibly an armored vest – that he did not recognize, one of whom had a strange metal symbol shaped like a snake or a worm attached to his forehead, a scar-faced turian and, to his shock and horror, a geth. "Remember Vido, it's because of me that you're still alive," Shepard continued. Vido did remember; he remembered how Shepard, along with his ex-partner and nemesis Zaeed Massani as well as a black man whose name he did not know had completely leveled his base of operations on Zorya, only escaping due to Shepard taking a detour to free the imprisoned factory workers trapped within the facility, and even then he barely dodged a lucky shot that had taken out the man sitting next to him. He felt Shepard laying a hand on his neck and squeezing, wincing when he felt the pressure quickly turn into pain.

"Okay, okay, I'll talk," he grunted, sighing in relief when he felt the pressure recede. "About a week ago, we hit an Alliance freighter hauling Eezo that was going along the edge of the Terminus systems. Its escort was heavier than we expected and we suffered some damage, so we tried to escape." He grunted in discomfort when Shepard briefly clenched her hand around his neck again, continuing his story when she stopped. "But when we hit the relay, something went wrong. The ship felt like it was being rattled apart before we got dumped out." Shepard and Garrus looked at each other, surprise showing on their faces at the familiar description.

"I didn't want to risk another jump like that," Vido continued, "so we limped around until our fuel reserves ran low. We found this planet and figured that risking going groundside would be better than slowly suffocating to death, so we jumped into a Kodiak and came down here. That was yesterday." Shepard was silent as she pondered his story. If it were true, then the incident that brought her and her crew to this reality truly was a fault in the mass relays, but what could cause such a failure?

"Shepard, what are we going to do about them?" Garrus asked, nodding his head to the captives. Shepard stood up and looked at the bound mercenaries.

"We do not have sufficient space or resources onboard the _Normandy_ to sustain prisoners," Legion commented. "The turians in particular would place an unacceptable strain on supplies relegated for Creator-Tali'Zorah and Vakarian-Officer," the synthetic construct continued.

"Legion's got a point and Vido in particular doesn't deserve any mercy," Garrus confirmed, though the members of SG-1 were unaware of what circumstances would have prompted such a statement.

"I agree," Shepard said, reaching for her pistol. "I guess there's only one thing to do," she said with a tone of finality.

"Actually, we can take them," Sam interjected before Shepard could execute anyone. "We have secure facilities where we can hold them."

"Yes!" Vido exclaimed, leaping at any opportunity to not get a bullet to the face. "We'll tell you anything, do anything, just don't kill us!" The other mercenaries gave similar pleas. Shepard was conflicted on what she should do. One the one hand, she did not relish the idea of such dangerous individuals being somewhere where she could not keep an eye on them, and killing them would ensure that they did not harm anyone in the future. On the other hand, performing what were essentially cold-blooded executions in front of her hosts could possibly sour relations with them, something that she did not need at the moment. Finally she made her decision and moved her hand away from her weapon.

"All right, you can have them," she conceded. "But I'm confiscating all weapons."

"Fair enough," Sam said as she pulled two of the mercenaries to their feet to lead them back to the stargate. The other mercenaries were brought to their feet while Shepard and her crew were gathering up the discarded weapons and omni-tools. Grabbing what supplies they could, the two teams led the mercenaries back to the stargate where Daniel dialed Earth and entered the code that would allow them safe passage. When the six warriors passed through the portal, they found Weir waiting for them.

"Shepard, SG-1, glad to see that you made it back alright," she said before switching her gaze to the prisoners. "Who are these?"

"Prisoners, ma'am," the blonde colonel explained. Weir frowned in confusion.

"I see…" she said with uncertainty; while she had been expecting the away team to return with one or two prisoners, she was not expecting so many. Turning to another soldier, she said, "Lieutenant, have your team escort our…guests to the holding cells until we can arrange more permanent accommodations for them," she ordered.

"Yes ma'am," the soldier said with a salute before he and his team led the Blue Suns off to their new homes. Turning back to the two newly-returned teams, Weir clapped her hands together.

"Well," she sighed before muttering half to herself, "this should make for an interesting debriefing."

* * *

In a star system hundreds of light years away, a jaffa by the name of Rolnek pilot resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of boredom. When his lord Ba'al had conquered this unclaimed system earlier that week he had found an unusual device near the edge of the system: It was many times the length of a Ha'tak Mothership and shaped vaguely like the head of a spear; its architecture was unlike anything that he had seen before. Unable to ascertain its function, the Goa'uld had ordered a constant guard on the device in case it activated.

As Rolnek blinked away the weight from his eyelids the device suddenly flared to life, wiping away any sense of fatigue that the jaffa felt. Bolts of lightning arced between the two arms of the device as the spinning center glowed ever brighter.

With a final brilliant flash, a ship appeared the likes of which Rolnek had never before seen. It dwarfed the tiny scout ship that he piloted many times over, and would make even ha'tak ships seem small in comparison. Its hull was black as the void of space and its many arms gave it the appearance of a macabre hand, or an insect or sea-creature of some sort. Shaking away the sense of wonder and foreboding that he felt, Rolnek activated his ship's communication array to hail the strange vessel before him.

"Unidentified craft, you are in claimed space," he announced. "In the name of Lord Ba'al, identify yourself immediately and surrender!" Rolnek waited patiently for a response; his wait was not long. The voice that answered was an unearthly sound suitable for demons of legend that chilled his bones and stabbed in his mind like needles.

"_**I am the Overseer of your doom**_," whatever foul entity that controlled the ship replied, the vessel's limbs twisting about. "_**Your annihilation is at hand**_." Rolnek now noticed that one of the arms was pointed directly at his vessel. A crimson beam of light erupted from the tip and sped towards him. The shields of his ship did not hold for even a mere second before Rolnek fell into the cold embrace of death.

* * *

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